UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 

SEPARATE  FROM  YEARBOOK  1922 

No.  885 


HISTORY  AND  STATUS  OF  TOBACCO 

CULTURE 


BY 


W.  W.  Garner  and  E.  G.  Moss,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry ; 
and  H.  S.  Yohe,  F.  B.  Wilkinson,  and  0.  C.  Stine, 
Bureau  of  Agricultural  Economics. 


Th\s  book  is  due  at  the  LOUIS  R.  WILSON  LIBRARY  on  the 
last  date  stamped  under  “Date  Due.”  If  not  on  hold  it  iJay  be 
renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library.  / 

\  / 


Extent  of  the  industry 
World  production  .  . 

Acreage,  yield,  and  p 
States  .... 


Influence  of  soil  am 
of  tobacco  .  .  . 

Effect  of  seasonal  cc 
yield.  . !  . 

Importance  of  fertili: 

Yield  per  acre  in 
product  .  .  .  . 


Diseases  of  tobacco 
Cost  of  production  .  . 

Distribution  of  cost 
Distribution  of  labor 
Land  rent  .  .  . 

Barns  and  sticks 
Fertilizers .  .  • 


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Form  No.  513 

Statement  of  Authorship. 

This  article  was  prepared  by  specialists  in  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry, 
the  Bureau  of  Agricultural  Economics,  the  Bureau  of  Entomology,  and  the 
Weather  Bureau,  under  the  general  supervision  of  a  committee  composed 
of  W.  W.  Garner  (chairman),  E.  G.  Moss,  Otto  Olson,  L.  S.  Tenny,  O.  0. 
Stine,  H.  S.  Yohe,  R.  H.  Wilcox,  M.  Dorset,  A.  L.  Quaintance,  S.  H. 
McCrory,  C.  F.  Marbut,  and  J.  Warren  Smith. 

The  principal  contributions  were  made  by  the  following: 

From  the  Bureau  of  Agricultural  Economics:  O.  C.  Stine,  illustrative 
material  covering  world  production,  historical  development,  acreage,  yield, 
and  production  of  tobacco,  and  present  geographical  distribution  of  pro¬ 
duction;  Albert  P.  Brodell,  cost  of  production;  H.  S.  Yohe  and  F.  B.  Wilkin¬ 
son,  jointly,  tobacco  marketing  and  prices  of  leading  types;  Lewis  B.  Flohr, 
farm  prices  of  tobacco;  George  K.  Holmes,  statistical  scientist,  digest  of 
import  duties  on  tobacco  under  the  Constitution;  Nat.  C.  Murray,  chief 
statistican,  verification  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  statistical  data  used 
in  the  article. 

From  tlie  Bureau  of  Entomology:  J.  L.  Webb,  insects  affecting  tobacco. 

From  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry:  W.  W.  Garner,  general  supervision 
and  discussion  relating  to  world  production,  historical  development,  dis¬ 
tinctive  types  of  tobacco,  major  portion  of  text  on  production,  and  the  sec¬ 
tions  on  extent  of  the  industry,  exports  and  imports,  domestic  consumption, 
internal  revenue  taxes  on  tobacco,  summary  and  outlook;  E.  G.  Moss  and 
Otto  Olson,  jointly,  portion  of  text  on  factors  influencing  production  and 
international  trade  in  tobacco;  James  Johnson,  diseases  of  tobacco. 

From  the  Weather  Bureau:  J.  Warren  Smith,  correlation  of  weather  and 
yield  of  tobacco. 


HISTORY  AND  STATUS  OF 

TOBACCO  CULTURE 


By  W.  W.  Garner  and  E.  G.  Moss,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry ;  and 
H.  S.  Yohe,  F.  B.  Wilkinson,  and  O.  C.  Stine,  Bureau  of  Agricul¬ 
tural  Economics. 

Extent  of  the  Industry. 

rp  HE  size  of  the  tobacco  crop  appears  small  when  com- 
X  pared  with  the  enormous  production  of  such  crops  as 
Avheat,  corn,  and  cotton.  The  tobacco  acreage  constitutes 
about  five-tenths  of  1  per  cent  of  the  acreage  devotee!  to  all 
crops.  In  the  census  year  1919  the  value  of  the  tobacco 
crop  was  about  3  per  cent  of  that  of  all  farm  crops.  Never¬ 
theless,  the  acreage  and  production  of  tobacco  are  large, 
and  the  value  of  the  crop  is  exceeded  only  by  that  of  corn, 
hay  and  forage,  cotton,  wheat,  oats,  and  potatoes.  Of  the 
staple  crops  rye  and  barley,  in  addition  to  the  preceding, 
surpass  tobacco  in  acreage.  According  to  census  returns 
for  1919,  tobacco  was  grown  in  42  States,  in  1,694  counties, 
and  on  448,572  farms.  The  crop  of  1,465,481,000  pounds 
was  produced  on  1,951,000  acres  of  land  and  was  valued  at 
$570,868,000.  During  the  five-year  period  1917-1921  the 
average  area  in  tobacco  was  1,702,000  acres,  the  production 
averaged  1,362,000,000  pounds,  and  the  average  value  of  the 
crop  was  $364,620,000,  according  to  estimates  of  the  Bureau 

395 

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396  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

of  Agricultural  Economics.  Tobacco  culture  is  largely  lo¬ 
calized  in  a  comparatively  few  States,  and  in  several  States 
extensive  culture  is  limited  to  only  a  few  counties.  In  some 
localities  tobacco  culture  becomes  the  dominant  feature  of 
agriculture.  The  three  States,  Kentucky,  North  Carolina, 
and  Virginia,  produce  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  total  output 
of  the  country,  and  Kentucky  alone  produces  a  third  of  the 
total.  In  1919  tobacco  was  grown  on  143,599  farms  in  the 
latter  State  and  640,241  acres  were,  devoted  to  the  crop. 
North  Carolina  stood  first  in  value  of  the  crop,  which  re¬ 
turned  to  the  farmers  more  than  $151,000,000.  This  amount 
was  30  per  cent  of  the  value  of  all  farm  crops  of  the  State. 
Lancaster,  Pa.,  is  the  leading  county  of  the  United  States 
in  acreage  and  production,  and  in  1919  produced  49,335,000 
pounds  on  37,301  acres.  Hartford,  Conn.,  the  second  county 
in  production,  leads  in  the  value  of  her  crop,  which  in  1919 
was  worth  $13,000,000,  or  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
value  of  all  crops  produced. 

The  United  States  leads  the  world  not  only  in  the  total 
production  of  tobacco  but  also  in  the  number  and  diversity 
of  distinctive  types  produced.  Types  of  leaf  especially 
adapted  for  all  forms  in  which  tobacco  is  used  are  pro¬ 
duced  in  important  quantities.  The  tobacco  crop  is  the 
basis  of  extensive  and  varied  manufactures,  affording  em¬ 
ployment  to  many  persons  and  involving  large  investments 
of  capital.  The  magnitude  of  these  operations  is  indicated 
by  the  census  returns,  which  show  that  in  1919  the  number 
of  tobacco-manufacturing  establishments  was  10,291,  with  a 
capital  investment  of  $604,839,572.  Employment  was  af¬ 
forded  183,565  persons,  who  received  as  salaries  and  wages 
$153,299,012,  and  the  aggregate  value  of  manufactured  prod¬ 
ucts  was  $1,012,933,213.  Manufactured  tobacco  has  long 
been  an  important  source  of  revenue  for  the  Government, 
and  in  1921  the  amount  derived  from  this  source  was  $254,- 
035,199. 

World  Production. 

Tobacco  is  grown  in  considerable  quantity  in  various 
parts  of  the  world.  (Fig.  1.)  As  far  as  statistics  are  avail¬ 
able  the  11  countries  producing  upward  of  50,000,000  pounds 
annually  during  the  pre-war  period,  1909  to  1913,  are,  in 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  397 


| 


Fig.  1. — Tobacco  may  be  grown  successfully  under  a  wide  range  of  conditions  of  soil  and  climate,  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  this  crop 
is  an  important  one  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  commercial  value  of  the  product,  however,  is  influenced  to  an  extraordinary 
degree  by  soil  and  climate  so  that  the  product  of  different  countries  varies  greatly  in  market  value. 


398  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1988. 

the  order  of  quantity  produced,  the  United  States,  British 
India,  Russia,  Hungary,  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  Japan,  Ger¬ 
many,  Philippine  Islands,  Brazil,  Cuba,  and  northern  Cau¬ 
casia.  The  production  of  China  undoubtedly  is  very  large 
in  the  aggregate,  but  for  that  country  nothing  more  than 
fragmentary  statistics  are  available.  It  is  estimated  that 
world  production  for  the  period  1909  to  1913  averaged  ap¬ 
proximately  2Iso  billion  pounds,  of  which  the  United  States 
furnished  35  per  cent. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  tobacco  crop  of  the  world  is  pro¬ 
duced  under  widely  contrasted  climatic  conditions  and  on 
very  diverse  types  of  soil.  The  tobaccos  thus  produced 
differ  greatly  as  to  properties  which  determine  their  useful¬ 
ness  for  different  forms  of  manufacture,  and  consequently 
there  are  wide  differences  in  the  commercial  value  of  these 
tobaccos.  Most  countries  can  readily  produce  large  'quan¬ 
tities  of  tobacco  but  only  of  a  relatively  inferior  grade, 
while  only  a  few  countries  possess  areas  having  the  neces¬ 
sary  soil  and  climatic  conditions  for  growing  tobacco  of 
superior  merit.  So  important  are  the  effects  of  soil  and 
ciimate  on  the  quality  of  the  tobacco  produced  that  even  in 
those  countries  which,  as  a  whole,  grow  a  product  of  rela¬ 
tively  low-grade,  tobacco  culture  is  more  or  less  definitely 
localized. 

Acreage,  Yield,  and  Production  in  the  United  States. 

In  1866  the  estimated  area  in  tobacco  was  slightly  more 
than  a  half  million  acres  and,  with  a  fairly  steady  rate  of  in¬ 
crease,  the  acreage  first  passed  the  million  mark  in  1899. 
(Fig.  2.)  Beginning  with  1904,  there  was  a  5-year  period 
of  reduced  acreage,  followed  by  a  marked  increase  to  an 
average  of  nearly  1J  million  acres  for  the  5-year  period, 
1917  to  1921.  The  acreage,  therefore,  has  tripled  in  a  half 
century.  In  1920  the  acreage  approached  the  2-million 
mark,  but  low  prices  resulted  in  a  marked  reduction  in  the 
area  planted  in  1921. 

The  yield  per  acre  fluctuates  widely  from  year  to  year,  the 
lowest  average  yield  for  the  country  during  the  past  half 
century,  namely  569  pounds,  being  that  of  1869.  The  high¬ 
est  average  yield  for  this  period  was  894  pounds,  in  1911. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 

TOBACCO:  UNITED  STATES,  1866-1921. 


399 


ACRES 


400  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

Using  nine-year  moving  averages  to  smooth  out  seasonal  in¬ 
fluences,  it  is  seen  (Fig.  2)  that  there  was  no  marked  change 
in  average  yield  per  acre  during  the  first  30  years  of  the 
period  covered.  Beginning  about  1897,  however,  the  average 
yield  advanced  from  about  715  pounds  to  more  than  800 
pounds  per  acre  within  a  decade.  This  increase  in  yield  was 
due  in  part  possibly  to  the  extension  of  tobacco  culture  into 
new  territory,  but  the  principal  factor  was  the  increased  use 
of  fertilizers.  There  has  been  no  further  decided  change  in 
average  yield  per  acre. 

The  total  production  has*  increased  from  an  average  of 
about  350,000,000  pounds  for  the  10-year  period  ended  in 
1879  to  1.1  billion  pounds  for  the  10  years  ended  in  1919. 
This  increase  in  production  is  due  chiefly  to  increase  in  acre¬ 
age,  only  a  small  fraction  being  accounted  for  by  increase  in 
acre  yield.  The  crop  of  1920  was  the  largest  ever  grown, 
the  estimated  production  for  that  year  being  1,582,225,000 
pounds.  The  1921  crop,  however,  amounted  to  only  1,075,- 
418,000  pounds. 

Tobacco  Culture  a  Highly  Specialized  Industry. 

Historical  Development. 

At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America  the  natives  were 
growing  tobacco  from  Canada  southward  as  far  as  southern 
Brazil.  Early  records  show  that  the  aborigines  understood 
the  more  fundamental  features  of  tobacco  production  as 
now  practiced,  including  the  details  of  proper  spacing  in 
the  field,  topping  and  suckering  the  plants,  and  the  dis¬ 
tinctive  processes  of  drying  now  known  as  air  curing,  sun 
curing,  and  fire  curing.  Spanish  settlers  began  commercial 
tobacco  culture  in  the  West  Indies  and  Central  America  and 
South  America  long  before  Jamestown  was  established,  so 
that  at  the  outset  the  tobacco  produced  by  the  Virginia  and 
Maryland  settlers  was  forced  to  meet  the  competition  of  the 
Spanish  product  when  sent  to  Europe.  Nevertheless,  tobacco 
promptly  became  a  leading  article  of  exchange  with  the 
mother  country,  and  its  culture  has  remained  a  permanent 
feature  of  agriculture  in  Virginia  and  Maryland.  Through¬ 
out  colonial  days,  when  Virginia  and  Maryland  produced 
the  bulk  of  the  crop,  there  was  a  tendency  for  production 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 


401 


■2 


35896—23 


Fig.  3. — In  1839  the  tobacco  crop  was  grown,  mainly  in  the  States  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee. 
During  the  decade  1839-1849  there  was  no  marked  change  in  total  quantity  of  tobacco  grown  or  in  distribution,  of  production. 


402  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922 


Fig.  4. — By  1859  production  had  increased  greatly  in  the  leading  tobacco-growing  States,  the  crop  of  that  year  being  more  than  twice 
as  large  as  the  1849  crop.  In  the  decade  1859-1869  influences  of  the  Civil  War  caused  a  shift  in  the  center  of  maximum  production 
from  Virginia  to  Kentucky  where  it  has  since  remained.  Production  for  the  country  as  a  whole  also  was  greatly  curtailed. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 


403 


Fig.  5. — In  the  decade  closing  with  1879  there  was  a  notable  increase  in  production  in  northern  tobacco-growing  States,  especially  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Wisconsin.  There  were  no  striking  changes  in  distribution  of  production  in  the  period  1879—1889  except  a  marked 
expansion  in  production  in  north  central  Kentucky. 


404  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

to  increase  more  rapidly  than  European  demand,  thus  caus¬ 
ing  very  low  prices.  Tobacco  was  a  constant  object  of 
legislation  in  vain  efforts  to  remedy  this  situation  by  such 
devices  as  fixing  prices,  limiting  production,  and  providing 
penalties  for  false  packing.  By  1664  tobacco  exports  in 
Virginia  and  Maryland  had  reached  nearly  24,000,000 
pounds,  and  by  1770  the  portion  of  the  crop  exported  aver¬ 
aged  about  100,000,000  pounds.  During  the  following  half 
century  trade  disturbances,  resulting  largely  from  the  Revo¬ 
lutionary  War  and  the  long  series  of  Napoleonic  wars  in 
Europe,  materially  checked  further  expansion  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  and  exportation  of  tobacco.  During  this  period, 
however,  tobacco  culture  assumed  increasing  importance  in 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee. 

Changes  in  leading  centers  of  tobacco  production  from 
1839  to  date  are  shown  in  Figures  3  to  6,  inclusive.  In  1839 
the  bulk  of  the  crop  was  grown  in  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Ten¬ 
nessee,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Missouri,  and  Ohio,  the 
two  first  named  States  furnishing  nearly  60  per  cent  of  the 
total.  During  the  following  decade  there  was  little  change 
in  distribution  of  production,  except  that  the  crop  of  Mis¬ 
souri  increased  considerably.  In  1859  production  had  in¬ 
creased  in  all  the  above-named  States,  and  in  addition  the 
crop  had  become  of  some  importance  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley  and  in  New  York  and  Indiana.  Virginia  and  Ken¬ 
tucky  still  produced  more  than  half  of  the  total  crop.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  following  decade  the  Civil  War  greatly  curtailed 
production  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Maryland,  and 
Tennessee,  with  the  result  that  Kentucky  assumed  a  com¬ 
manding  lead  among  the  principal  producing  States.  In 
this  period  there  was  considerable  development  of  the  to¬ 
bacco  industry  in  the  Connecticut  Valley. 

In  the  decade  ended  in  1879  there  was  a  considerable  in¬ 
crease  in  production  in  nearly  all  the  leading  tobacco  States, 
and  for  the  first  time  production  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Wisconsin  became  of  importance.  Production  in  Missouri 
reached  its  maximum  in  this  period.  During  the  decade 
ended  in  1889  there  was  a  further  decided  increase  in  average 
production  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  although  the  1889 
crop  itself  was  below  the  average,  especially  in  Virginia. 
During  this  period  Kentucky  further  increased  her  lead  as 


405 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 

the  principal  producing  State.  There  was  also  a  consider¬ 
able  increase  in  production  in  Wisconsin.  In  the  last  decade 
of  the  past  century  there  was  a  marked  increase  in  the 
tobacco  crop  of  nearly  all  leading  States,  but  the  outstanding 
features  were  the  very  large  increase  in  North  Carolina  and 
the  addition  of  South  Carolina  to  the  list  of  important  pro¬ 
ducing  States.  Tobacco  had  ceased  to  be  a  crop  of  impor¬ 
tance  in  Missouri.  In  the  decade  1900—1909  there  was  a 
temporary  period  of  decreased  production  in  most  of  the 
principal  tobacco  States  from  1904  to  1907,  inclusive,  while 
the  crop  of  1909  was  very  large,  with  the  principal  increases 
in  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  the  Connecticut  Val¬ 
ley,  and  West  Virginia.  During  the  decade  ended  in  1919 
there  were  further  notable  increases  in  production  in  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania,  and  Connecticut.  In  1918  the  crop  of  Georgia  began 
to  increase  considerably  in  size. 

Differentiation  into  Distinctive  Types. 

The  history  of  tobacco  production  in  the  United  States 
has  not  been  one  of  simple  expansion,  but  rather,  there  has 
been  throughout  a  tendency  toward  increased  specialization. 
The  use  of  tobacco  for  chewing  and  pipe  smoking  and  in 
the  forms  of  snuff,  cigarettes,  and  cigars  was  prevalent 
among  the  natives  when  Columbus  first  visited  America, 
but  it  is  not  clear  whether  these  people  recognized  the  spe¬ 
cial  adaptability  of  different  tobaccos  for  use  in  these  dif¬ 
ferent  forms.  At  any  rate,  the  early  settlers  in  Virginia 
produced  at  first  but  a  single  fundamental  type  of  tobacco 
for  export  to  Europe,  although  this  product  soon  came  to 
be  recognized  as  differing  in  its  qualities  from  the  tobaccos 
produced  in  the  West  Indies  and  South  America  by  Spanish 
settlers.  As  its  culture  was  carried  from  the  first  settlement 
at  Jamestown  into  new  territory  it  was  seen  that  the  changes 
in  soil  and  climate  resulted  in  important  differences  in  the 
character  of  the  tobacco  produced.  It  gradually  became 
more  and  more  apparent  also  that  these  differences  in  the 
properties  of  the  tobacco  leaf  due  to  soil  and  climatic  in¬ 
fluences  greatly  affected  its  adaptability  for  use  in  different 
forms,  the  product  of  one  section,  for  example,  being  es- 


406  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

pecially  suitable  for  making  smoking  or  chewing  tobacco 
but  perhaps  not  producing  so  acceptable  a  cigar  as  that  of 
another  section.  -It  was  learned,  moreover,  that  desirable 
characteristics  of  the  tobacco  leaf  resulting  from  local  soil 
and  climatic  influences  could  be  further  accentuated  by 
modifying  the  methods  of  growing  and  curing.  Thus, 
through  a  process  of  gradual  evolution  tobacco  culture  has 
become  highly  specialized,  each  producing  district  furnish¬ 
ing  a  distinctive  type  of  leaf  especially  adapted  for  certain 
uses,  based  ultimately  on  the  tastes  and  preferences  of  the 
consumer.  It  is  the  accumulated  experience  of  three  cen¬ 
turies  of  tobacco  culture  that  each  of  these  types  can  be  pro¬ 
duced  only  under  certain  conditions  of  soil  and  climate,  by 
using  certain  varieties  of  seed,  and  by  employing  special 
methods  in  growing  and  handling  the  crop. 

Dark  fire-cured  and  air-cured  types. — The  dark  fire-cured 
types  of  to-day  are  fundamentally  the  same  as  the  original 
Jamestown  tobacco.  The  Indians  taught  the  first  settlers 
the  use  of  open  fires  and  smoke  in  curing  the  green  tobacco 
leaves,  and  this  method  of  curing,  together  with  certain  dis¬ 
tinctive  cultural  practices  adopted  in  the  earliest  days,  is 
still  followed.  As  tobacco  culture  was  extended  farther 
inland  the  modifications  in  character  of  leaf  produced  by  the 
heavier,  more  clayey  soils  of  the  Piedmont  region  proved  to 
be  desirable,  and  as  a  consequence  the  culture  decreased  and 
f  was  finally  abandoned  on  the  rich  lowlands  of  the  tidewater 
region  originally  employed.  Thus  the  culture  of  this  type 
was  transferred  to  the  uplands  of  the  Piedmont  section  of 
Virginia.  Fire  curing  also  was  practiced  in  southern  Mary¬ 
land  in  the  earliest  days,  but  later  the  process  of  air  curing 
without  the  use  of  artificial  heat  was  substituted  there  as 
well  as  in  the  upper  counties  of  Virginia.  The  growing  of 
these  fire-cured  and  air-cured  types  was  extended  across 
the  Alleghenies  into  eastern  and  southern  Ohio,  across  Ken¬ 
tucky  and  northern  Tennessee,  and  even  beyond  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  into  Missouri,  by  pioneer  settlers  from  Virginia  and 
Maryland.  From  the  beginning  the  dark  fire-cured  types 
have  been  distinctively  export  tobaccos,  about  80  per  cent 
of  the  total  production  going  to  foreign  markets.  The  re¬ 
mainder  is  used  mainly  for  snuff  and  for  plug  chewing. 
The  dark  air-cured  types  also  always  have  been  exported  in 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture 


407 


Fig.  6. — In  the  10-year  period  ending  with  1899  there  was  marked  expansion  in  production  in  North  Carolina  to  the  eastward  of  the 
old  producing  district,  this  development  extending  also  into  eastern  South  Carolina.  The  crop  of  1919  was  very  large,  with  principal 
increases  in  Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  South  Carolina,  and  Connecticut. 


408  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  19&&. 

large  quantities,  but  most  of  these  types  are  far  more  impor¬ 
tant  in  the  domestic  manufacture  of  chewing  tobaccos  than 
are  the  fire-cured  types. 

//  Bright  flue-cured  tobacco. — As  the  early  colonists  pushed 

^tobacco  culture  into  the  central  border  counties  connecting 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  it  was  found  that  the  light- 
gray,  comparatively  infertile  lands  of  that  section  produced 
a  light-colored  sweet  leaf,  which  soon  became  popular  as  a 
chewing  tobacco.  After  the  War  of  1812  an  active  foreign 
demand  for  mild  spangled  tobacco  stimulated  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  this  new  type.  Less  heat  and  smoke  were  required 
for  this  tobacco  than  for  the  darker,  stronger  types,  and 
about  1825  charcoal  began  to  be  used  in  place  of  open  wood 
fires  in  order  to  secure  lighter  colors.  Soon  after  the  Civil 
War  the  use  of  flues  in  curing  was  adopted,  thereby  further 
increasing  the  demand  for  this  type  in  the  manufacture  of 
chewing  and  smoking  tobaccos  and  causing  rapid  expansion 
in  production  in  southern  Virginia  and  the  north-central 
portion  of  North  Carolina.  Beginning  about  1890,  there 
was  very  rapid  development  in  the  culture  of  bright  flue- 
cured  tobacco  in  the  so-called  new  belt  section  of  eastern 
North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina.  During  the  past  15 
years  there  has  been  further  marked  expansion  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  bright  flue-cured  tobacco,  and  its  culture  has  now 
been  extended  into  southern  Georgia.  This  type  is  chiefly 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  chewing  plug,  granulated  smok¬ 
ing  mixtures,  and  cigarettes,  and  for  export. 

C  Cigar  leaf. — In  1810  the  manufacture  of  cigars  from  to¬ 
bacco  imported  from  Cuba  and  Brazil  began  in  a  small 
way  in  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  and  about  1825  it  began 
to  be  recognized  that  the  local  conditions  of  soil  and  climate 
were  adapted  to  the  growing  of  cigar  leaf.  In  1833  the 
Maryland  Broadleaf  variety  of  tobacco  w7as  introduced  and 
this  marked  the  beginning  of  the  extensive  Broadleaf  or 
Seedleaf  tobacco  industry  which  expanded  rapidly  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century  not  only  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley  but  in  Pennsylvania  and  in  the  Miami  Valley  of 
Ohio  as  well.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  the 
culture  of  cigar  leaf  rapidly  developed  in  Wisconsin. 
About  1870  the  so-called  Havana  Seed  type  of  cigar  leaf 
obtained  from  Cuba  was  introduced  into  the  Connecticut 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  409 

Valley,  the  Miami  Valley  of  Ohio,  and  southern  Wisconsin, 
and  its  culture  developed  rapidly  in  the  next  decade.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  past  two  decades  there  has  been  extensive  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  growing  of  cigar  wrapper  leaf  under  artificial 
shade  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  and  in  the  Quincy,  Fla., 
district. 

White  Burley. — The  extensive  Burley  industry  owes  its 
existence  to  the  discovery  of  a  new,  distinctive  variety  of 
tobacco  in  Brown  County,  Ohio,  in  1864.  The  great  suc¬ 
cess  of  this  variety  in  displacing  the  dark  tobaccos  which 
were  grown  at  that  time  in  north-central  Kentucky  and  in 
counties  of  adjoining  States  along  the  Ohio  Biver  was  due 
primarily  to  its  special  fitness  for  the  manufacture  of 
heavily  sweetened  plug  for  chewing.  In  recent  years  this 
type  has  found  extensive  use  in  the  manufacture  of  cig¬ 
arettes  and  smoking  mixtures,  and  this  has  resulted  in  wider 
culture  of  the  subvariety  known  as  Stand-Up  Burley. 

Present  Geographical  Distribution,  by  Types. 

Present  localization  of  production  of  the  principal  types 
of  tobacco  is  shown  in  Figure  T,  except  that  areas  in  which 
production  is  scattering  are  not  included.  Cigar-leaf  types 
are  grown  chiefly  in  the  counties  of  Hampden,  Hampshire, 
and  Franklin,  Mass.;  Hartford,  Tolland,  Litchfield,  and 
Middlesex,  Conn. ;  Onondago,  Chemung,  and  Steuben,  N.  Y. , 
Lancaster  and  York,  Pa.;  Darke,  Miami,  Montgomery,  Pre¬ 
ble,  and  Warren,  Ohio;  Dane,  Bock,  Vernon,  Crawford, 
Columbia,  and  Trempealeau,  Wis. ;  Gadsden,  Fla. ;  and  De¬ 
catur,  Ga.  The  bright  flue-cured  type  is  grown  chiefly  in 
the  southern  tier  of  counties,  Patrick,  Henry,  Pittsylvania, 
Halifax,  and  Mecklenburg,  and  the  southern  portions  of 
Franklin,  Charlotte,  and  Brunswick,  in  Virginia;  the  two 
upper  tiers  of  counties  of  north-central  Noith  Caiolina. 
including  Surry  and  Yadkin  to  the  west,  and  practically  the 
entire  eastern  half  of  the  State,  excepting  the  immediate 
coast  region;  the  counties  of  Marion,  Hony,  Dillon,  Dai 
lihgton,  Florence,  Lee,  Sumter,  Clarendon,  and  Williams¬ 
burg,  S.  C.  There  is  a  less  concentrated  production  in  sev- 
eraf  counties  of  southern  Georgia,  centering  around  and  to 
the  east  of  Coffee  County.  Burley  is  grown  m  the  north- 

'  35896 — 23 - 3 


410  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922 


Fig.  7. — Each  distinctive  type  of  tobacco  has  its  special  requirements  as  to  soil  and  climate  and  the  present  localization  of  production  of 
^  the  various  types  is  the  result  of  a  long  process  of  evolution  and  specialization. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  411 

central  portion  of  Kentucky,  including  to  the  westward  ap¬ 
proximately  the  counties  of  Meade,  Hardin,  Hart,  and  Bar¬ 
ren,  and  extending  eastward  as  far  as  Greenup,  Rowan, 
Powell,  and  Rock  Castle;  the  counties  of  southeastern  In¬ 
diana,  southern  Ohio,  and  westerly  West  Virginia  which 
border  on  the  Ohio  River.  Dark  air-cured  types  are  chiefly 
grown  in  Spencer  and  Warrick  Counties,  Ind. ;  the  portion 
of  Kentucky  immediately  westward  of  the  Burley  district 
and  including,  to  the  west,  the  counties  of  Daviess,  McLean, 
Muhlenburg,  Butler,  Warren,  and  Simpson;  the  adjoining 
area  of  Tennessee,  including  the  upper  portion  of  Trous¬ 
dale  and  Smith  Counties;  the  counties  of  Caroline,  Louisa, 
Hanover,  Goochland,  and  a  portion  of  Fluvanna,  in  Vir¬ 
ginia,  the  latter  section  constituting  the  so-called  Virginia 
sun-cured  district.  In  addition,  the  counties  of  Prince 
Georges,  Anne  Arundel,  Charles,  Calvert,  and  St.  Marys,  in 
Maryland,  produce  a  somewhat  lighter-colored  air-cured 
type.  Dark  fire-cured  tobacco  is  produced  in  the  portion  of 
Kentucky  to  the  west  of  the  dark  air-cured  district,  together 
with  adjoining  counties  of  Tennessee,  including  Houston, 
Dickson,  Cheatham,  but  not  Lake  and  Benton;  the  section 
of  Virginia  between  the  sun-cured  and  bright  flue-cured  dis¬ 
tricts  and  extending  westward  to  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains. 

Factors  Influencing  Tobacco  Production. 

Production  of  Leading  Types  of  Tobacco. 

To  arrive  at  a  proper  understanding  of  the  significance 
of  the  increase  in  total  production  shown  in  Figure  2  it  is 
necessary  to  examine  the  trend  of  production  in  the  different 
types  of  tobacco.  The  annual  production  of  the  leading 
types  for  the  years  1909-1921,  inclusive,  is  shown  in  Fig¬ 
ure  8.  To  facilitate  comparison  the  several  subtypes  of  dark 
fire  cured  and  dark  air  cured  are  treated  as  a  single  gioup, 
since,  for  the  most  part,  they  are  closely  related.  In  this 
group  are  included  (1)  the  fire-cured  tobaccos  of  Viiginia 
and  the  Clarksville  and  Hopkinsville,  the  Henderson,  and 
the  Paducah  districts  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee;  (2)  the 
air-cured  tobaccos  of  the  one  sucker  district  of  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  and  Indiana,  the  so-called  Virginia  sun-cured 
district,  and  the  Maryland  and  eastern  Ohio  export  district. 


412  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

It  is  quite  apparent  that  for  the  period  covered  the  aggre¬ 
gate  production  of  cigar  leaf  has  remained  in  a  relatively 
stable  position,  even  the  general  disturbance  of  the  World 
War  having  had  only  a  moderate  influence  on  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  this  type.  The  average  production  was  about 
205,000,000  pounds  during  the  five-year  period  1909-1913 
and  229,000,000  pounds  in  1917-1921.  The  combined  dark 
fire-cured  and  air-cured  types  also  do  not  show  any  sig¬ 
nificant  change  of  a  permanent  character,  although  there 
are  rather  wide  periodic  fluctuations.  Average  production 
for  1909-1913  was  350,000,000  pounds,  and  for  1917-1921 
the  average  was  380,000,000  pounds. 

The  production  of  Burley  shows  a  well-defined  upward 
trend,  the  average  for  1909-1913  being  215,000,000  pounds 

TYPES  OE  TOBACCO:  PRODUCTION,  1909-1921. 


POUNDS 

MILLIONS 

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500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

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1909  1910  1911  1912  1913  1914  1915  1916  1917  1916  1919  1920  1921  1922 


Fig.  8. — The  bright  flue-cured  or  cigarette  type  shows  a  remarkable  increase 
in  production  in  recent  years  and  there  has  been  an  upward  trend  in  the 
production  of  Burley.  Production  of  the  dark  fire-cured  and  air-cured  types 
and  cigar  leaf  has  become  relatively  stabilized. 

as  against  275,000,000  pounds  for  the  period  1917-1921. 
The  most  striking  fact  brought  out  in  Figure  8  is  the  re¬ 
markable  increase  in  production  of  bright  flue  cured,  the 
increase  for  the  past  10  years  being  more  than  100  per  cent. 
For  the  years  1909-1913  the  average  was  215,000,000,  while 
for  the  years  1917-1921  the  average  was  475,000,000.  The 
sharp  rise  in  total  production  of  tobacco  since  1913  (Fig. 
2) ,  therefore,  is  to  be  found  chiefly  in  a  moderate  increase  in 
the  production  of  Burley  and  a  very  large  increase  in  bright 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  413 

flue  cured.  I  he  causes  for  these  differences  in  trend  of 
production  of  the  different  types  will  be  found  in  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  exports  and  of  consumption  (pp.  448  and  450). 
Curtailment  of  tobacco  production  in  foreign  countries  and 
increased  domestic  and  foreign  demand  for  American  to¬ 
bacco  during  and  immediately  after  the  World  War,  with 
resultant  high  prices,  are  reflected  in  some  degree  of  increase 
in  production  of  all  types.  In  1921  there  was  a  marked 
reduction  in  production  of  all  types  except  cigar  leaf,  which 
was  less  affected  than  other  tobaccos  by  the  postwar  read¬ 
justment. 

Position  of  Tobacco  in  the  Farming  System. 

1  Tobacco  is  grown  as  a  cash  crop  and  has  a  relatively  high 
value  per  acre.  The  average  tobacco  acreage  per  farm  does 
not  vary  widely  over  the  country,  running  4  to  5  acres  in 
the  principal  producing  districts,  with  the  exception  of  the 
highly  specialized  cigar-wrapper  district  of  New  England. 
In  the  latter  district  the  acreage  is  about  8  acres  for  each 
tobacco  farm,  as  reported  in  the  1919  census. 

The  same  returns  indicate  that  the  tobacco  acreage  rep¬ 
resents  roughly  11  per  cent  of  the  total  improved  land  on 
tobacco  farms  in  Virginia,  17  per  cent  in  North  Carolina, 
and  8  per  cent  in  Kentucky,  while  in  Connecticut  the  tobacco 
acreage  reaches  28  per  cent  of  the  improved  land  on  the 

tobacco  farms.  ^ 

/  The  labor  requirements  for  tobacco  culture  are  large,  espe¬ 
cially  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  and  this  is  an  important 
factor  in  determining  the  tobacco  acreage  on  the  individual 
farms.  While  not  all  land  on  the  average  farm  may  be 
equally  adapted  to  tobacco  culture,  the  above  facts  indicate 
possibilities  for  large  expansion  if  demand  and  prices  should 
justify  the  shifting  of  labor  and  land  from  other  crops  to^ 

tobacco. 

Sharply  contrasting  systems  of  cropping  tobacco  lands  are 
found  in  different  regions,  and  it  is  of  considerable  interest 
and  importance  to  inquire  into  the  effects  of  these  contrast¬ 
ing  cropping  systems  on  the  trend  of  acre-yields  of  tobacco. 
The  tobacco-producing  districts  of  Connecticut,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania,  Maryland,  and  North  Carolina,  representing  two 


414  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

regions  of  high  yields  and  two  of  low  yields,  afford  typical 
examples  of  these  different  cropping  systems.  In  Connecti¬ 
cut  tobacco  is  grown  mostly  on  light  sandy  and  sandy  loam 
soils,  which  are  not  naturally  fertile.  Since  the  size  of  the 
average  farm  is  quite  small,  tobacco  ordinarily  must  be 
grown  each  year  on  the  same  land.  In  this  instance  rapid 
development  of  the  plant  to  large  size  is  essential  for  suc¬ 
cess,  and  to  accomplish  this  result  resort  is  made  to  exceed¬ 
ingly  heavy  applications  of  commercial  fertilizers  and  liberal 
use  of  barnyard  manure  and  lime.  The  immediate  effect  of 
this  highly  intensive  one-crop  system,  together  with  favor¬ 
able  climatic  conditions,  has  been  to  give  large  and  increas¬ 
ing  yields,  but  it  is  significant  that  in  recent  years  the  yield 
has  been  steadily  declining.  (Fig.  9.)  It  is  known  that  this 
decline  in  yield  is  due,  at  least  in  part,  to  the  appearance  of 
root  diseases  of  tobacco  as  an  incident  of  the  cropping  sys¬ 
tem  employed.  The  high  yields  of  the  Lancaster,  Pa.,  dis¬ 
trict  are  obtained  under  a  wholly  different  farming  system. 
The  tobacco  soils,  which  are  mainly  much  heavier  than  those 
of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  are  better  adapted  to  diversified 
farming,  and  only  a  small  portion  of  the  total  acreage  is  in 
tobacco  each  year.  A  well-balanced  cropping  system  is  prac- 


POUNDS 


Fig.  9. — Under  an  extensive  system  of  culture  on  soils  of  medium  fertility 
yields  are  being  successfully  maintained  in  Maryland  and  North  Carolina, 
though  at  low  levels ;  in  Pennsylvania  a  diversified,  intensive  system  is 
maintaining  yields  at  a  high  level,  while  in  Connecticut  a  highly  intensive 
one-crop  system  apparently  is  failing  to  do  so. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  415 

ticed,  which  includes  the  growing  of  wheat,  grass  and  clover, 
and  corn  in  rotation  with  tobacco.  The  winter  feeding  of 
steers  is  an  important  feature  of  the  system,  since  it  utilizes 
on  the  farm  the  straw,  hay,  and  grain  produced  and  provides 
the  manure  needed  for  maintaining  soil  productiveness. 
This  cropping  system,  moreover,  provides  a  fair  distribution 
of  labor  through  the  year.  Figure  9  discloses  the  fact  that 
under  the  Lancaster  system  there  has  been  since  1899  a 
decided  upward  trend  in  yield,  thus  indicating  the  soundness 
of  this  system  of  tobacco  culture. 

In  both  the  Maryland  export  and  the  North  Carolina 
I  bright  flue-cured  districts  soils  which  are  naturally  rather 
I  infertile  are  commonly  used  for  tobacco,  and  it  is  difficult 
I  to  secure  high  yields  by  application  of  intensive  methods 
i  without  sacrificing  quality  of  product.  In  Maryland  much 
(  land  available  for  tobacco  culture  remains  untilled  each  year. 
The  prevailing  practice  has  been  to  grow  two  or  more  crops 
of  tobacco  on  the  land,  mostly  without  manure  or  fertilizer, 
in  some  instances  with  an  intervening  crop  of  wheat.  A 
crop  of  corn  may  then  follow,  after  which  the  land  remains 
idle  for  a  period  of  years  in  order  that  its  productiveness 
may  be  restored.  Under  this  system  of  resting  the  land  the 
yield  of  tobacco  has  remained  almost  constant  at  a  level 
somewhat  less  than  700  pounds,  apparently  with  a  slight 
upward  trend  in  recent  years,  which  is  probably  due  to  use 
of  more  fertilizer  and  better  varieties  of  tobacco.  In  the 
North  Carolina  tobacco  district  there  is  no  systematic  rota¬ 
tion  of  crops  as  a  general  practice.  The  rule  has  been  an 
alternation  of  continuous  cropping  to  tobacco  and  resting  the 
land  for  one  or  more  years,  thus  resembling  the  practice  in 
.  Maryland.-  As  the  old  practice  of  constantly  clearing  new  ^ 
land  for  tobacco  decreased  it  became  necessary  to  rely  more 
j  largely  on  commercial  fertilizers,  for  resting  the  exhausted 
soils  for  short  periods  in  itself  is  not  sufficient  to  restore 
productiveness.  Fertilizers  are  much  more  generally  and 
I  more  liberally  used  than  in  Maryland.  During  the  earlier 
portion  of  the  period  covered  (Fig.  9)  there  was  an  upward 
i  trend  in  yield,  probably  due  to  increased  use  of  fertilizer, 
and  since  that  time  the  acre  yield  has  remained  quite  sta- 
4  tionary. 


416  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  19 
Influence  of  Soil  and  Climate  on  the  Quality  of  Tobacco. 

Probably  no  other  crop  is  so  greatly  affected  in  quality 
by  soil  and  climate  as  is  tobacco.  Climate  is  a  factor  of  im¬ 
portance  in  the  general  distribution  of  tobacco  culture  in 
the  United  States  and  affects  especially  the  quality  of  the 
crop.  The  general  tendency  in  northern  latitudes  is  toward 
the  production  of  a  large,  relatively  thin  leaf,  without  pro¬ 
nounced  aroma.  Thus  northern  climatic  conditions  favor 


STEAM  STERILIZATION  OF  TOBACCO  SEED  BEDS. 

Fig.  10. — Sterilizing  tobacco  seeds  with  high-pressure  steam  has  recently  come 
into  wide  use  in  northern  tobacco-growing  districts  and  is  adapted  to  ail 
sections.  This  process  is  an  important  aid  in  controlling  both  diseases  and 
weeds  in  the  seed  bed. 

the  production  of  cigar  types  possessing  these  leaf  character¬ 
istics  of  large  size,  thinness,  and  weak  aroma.  In  southern 
districts  the  tendency  is  toward  the  production  of  a  some¬ 
what  smaller,  more  aromatic  leaf  of  heavier  body,  as  seen 
in  the  cigarette,  pipe-smoking,  chewing,  and  export  types. 

The  physical  and  chemical  properties  of  the  soil,  however, 
undoubtedly  constitute  the  most  potent  factor  in  influencing 
the  development  of  those  properties  of  the  leaf  which  deter¬ 
mine  its  usefulness  in  the  trade.  Both  the  surface  soil  and 
the  subsoil  are  of  importance  in  this  particular.  In  gen- 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  417 

eral,  light  sandy  and  sandy  loam  soils  of  low  water-holding 
capacity  and  low  content  of  soluble  mineral  matter  tend  to 
produce  a  thin  leaf  of  relatively  large  size,  light  in  color  and 
body,  fine  texture,  and  weak  aroma.  Heavier  soils,  con¬ 
taining  more  silt  and  clay,  tend  to  produce  a  leaf  of  small 
size,  dark  color,  heavy  body,  and  strong  aroma.  So  pro¬ 
nounced  and  important  is  the  influence  of  soil  on  the  quality 
of  tobacco  that  commonly  certain  restricted  localities  within 
the  principal  producing  districts  enjoy  a  high  reputation 


TRANSPLANTING  TOBACCO  BY  MACHINE. 

Fig>  ii. — The  machine  transplanter,  which  is  widely  used  in  the  Cigar-leaf 
and  Burley  districts,  saves  labor  and  insures  a  better  stand,  particularly  in 
dry  weather.  It  is  not  adapted  for  very  small  fields  or  where  the  land  is 

uneven. 

\  for  the  special  merit  of  their  tobacco.  In  the  present  state 
1  of  our  knowledge  of  the  subject,  however,  it  is  not  possible 
to  analyze  fully  the  remarkable  influence  of  these  seemingly 
slight  differences  in  soil  on  the  quality  of  the  tobacco  pro- 

duced.  *  _  ~ 

The  cigar  wrapper  and  binder  types  of  the  (  onnecticut 

Valley  and  of  the  Quincy,  Fla.,  districts  are  grown  on  sandy 

and  sandy  loam  soils  containing  but  little  clay  in  the  sub- 

35896 — 23 - 4 


418  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922, 

soil  and  having  a  low  water-holding  capacity.  The  cigar 
binder-leaf  soils  of  Wisconsin  are  sandy  loams,  loams  and 
light  clay  loams,  while  the  cigar-filler  soils  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  are  silt  and  clay  loams,  the  Pennsylvania  soils 
being  largely  of  limestone  origin.  The  filler  soils  are  con¬ 
siderably  heavier  and  have  a  higher  water-holding  capacity 
than  the  binder-leaf  soils.  Burley  attains  its  highest  devel¬ 
opment  on  the  highly  fertile  phosphatic  limestone  soils  of 
the  bluegrass  region  of  Kentucky  and  in  southern  Ohio. 
The  dark  fire-cured  and  air-cured  tobaccos  of  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  and  Virginia  are  grown  largely  on  heavy  silt  and 
clay  loams  having  a  high  water-holding  capacity.  The  flue- 
cured  type  is  grown  on  gray  sandy  and  sandy  loam  soils  of 
low  natural  fertility.  The  body  and  texture  of  the  flue- 
cured  leaf  depend  largely  on  the  texture  of  the  subsoil  on 
which  it  is  grown.  The  cigarette  and  granulated  pipe¬ 
smoking  grades  are  obtained  chiefly  on  the  lighter  soils  with 
but  little  clay  in  the  subsoil,  while  the  plug-filler  and  wrap¬ 
per  grades  are  obtained  on  somewhat  heavier  soils  with  more 
clay  in  the  subsoil. 


CULTURE  OF  CIGAR  WRAPPER  TOBACCO  UNDER  ARTIFI¬ 
CIAL  SHADE. 

Fig.  12. — The  growing  of  high-grade  cigar  wrapper  leaf  from  Cuban  seed 
under  an  artificial  shade  of  cheese  cloth  or  of  slats  is  an  outstanding 
recent  development  of  cigar  tobacco  production.  The  field  covered  witl* 
Cloth  here  shown  is  1J  miles  long. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  419 

J  Effect  of  Seasonal  Conditions  on  Quality  and  Yield. 

As  a  rule  the  best  quality  of  tobacco  in  conjunction  with  *5 
satisfactory  yields  is  obtained  when  seasonal  conditions  are 
such  as  to  cause  rapid,  uninterrupted  growth  of  the  plant. 
Among  the  chief  requirements  are  fairly  high  temperatures 
and  a  moderate,  evenly  distributed  rainfall.  The  tobacco 
plant  is  not  readily  killed  by  drought,  but  quickly  succumbs 
to  a  water-logging  of  the  soil.  A  comparatively  dry  season 
tends  to  reduce  the  size  of  the  plant  as  a  whole  and  that  of 
the  individual  leaves  on  the  plant,  and  to  produce  an  abnor¬ 
mally  thick  leaf  of  close  grain,  containing  an  excess  of  gum 
and  having  poor  combustibility.  The  yield  of  such  a  crop 
is  greater  than  would  be  indicated  by  the  size  of  the  plant, 
and  the  leaf  is  resistant  to  decay  in  the  processes  of  ferment¬ 
ing  and  aging.  A  comparatively  wet  season,  on  the  other 
hand,  tends  to  produce  large  growth  and  thin,  tender  leaves, 
deficient  in  gummy  matter,  having  free  burning  properties, 
but  susceptible  to  injury  through  decay  in  the  processes  of 
curing  and  fermenting.  The  yield  of  such  a  crop  is  usually 
below  that  indicated  by  the  size  of  the  plant.  Tobacco  in 
the  green  state  is  seriously  damaged  by  killing  frost  or  freez¬ 
ing  temperatures,  and  there  is  always  the  possibility  of  par¬ 
tial  or  total  loss  from  early  frost  in  northern  regions.  To¬ 
bacco  is  peculiarly  susceptible  to  great  injury  from  hail  and 
wind  storms,  and  locally  there  are  important  losses  from  \ 
these  causes  each  year. 

^  A  study  of  the  correlation  of  weather  and  yield  of  to¬ 
bacco  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky  extending  over  a  long  period 
of  years  indicates  that  for  best  yields  in  tobacco  districts 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  the  weather  conditions  as  compared  with 
the  normal  climate  in  that  region  should  be  as  follows: 
May  should  be  moderately  dry  for  a  good  seed  bed,  and 
cool  to  harden  the  tobacco  plants.  June  should  be  mod¬ 
erately  warm  and  wet  to  insure  growth  wThen  the  plants 
are  set  out,  although  the  warm  and  wet  weather  may  de¬ 
velop  injurious  parasitic  diseases.  July  rainfall  and  tem¬ 
perature  should  be  about  normal,  as  too  much  rain  inter¬ 
feres  with  cultivation  ;  and  if  the  rainfall  is  inadequate,  the 
temperature  should  be  below  the  normal.  August  should 
have  rain  enough  to  produce  a  good-sized  leaf  aitei  topping, 


420  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

Warm  and  wet  weather  makes  the  best  growth,  but  is  more 
likely  to  cause  the  development  of  leaf  spot.  Hot  and  dry 
weather  is  very  detrimental;  hence  if  the  rainfall  is  less 
than  normal  the  month  should  be  cool.  If  the  growing 
season  is  moderately  wet,  with  a  uniform  supply  of  moisture, 
the  best  growth  will  be  with  the  temperature  somewhat 
above  normal.  But  if  drought  prevails  or  frequently  oc- 


MODEEN  BARN  FOR  FLUE  CURING. 

Fig.  13. — These  barns  are  of  small  size  and  are  provided  with  a  system  of 
flues  for  regulating  temperature  by  radiant  heat.  Ventilators  are  provided 
at  the  base  and  top  of  barn.  This  system  of  curing  is  used  in  the  bright 
flue-cured  or  cigarette  tobacco  districts. 


curs,  the  best  results  are  obtained  with  the  summer  some¬ 
what  cooler  than  normal.  j 

Importance  of  Fertilizers. 

A  large  portion  of  the  tobacco  crop  is  produced  on  soils 
which  are  naturally  rather  infertile,  while  the  tobacco  plant 
requires  a  fairly  generous  supply  of  plant  nutrients  if  it 
is  to  obtain  proper  growth,  hence  the  necessity  for  extensive 
use  of  fertilizers.  Moreover,  the  acre  value  of  tobacco  is 
sufficiently  high  to  justify  considerable  expenditure  for  fer¬ 
tilizers.  The  rational  use  of  fertilizers  in  tobacco  culture 
is  a  complicated  problem*  because  of  the  marked  effecfwhich 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  421 

they^jpay  haye  on  the  quality  of  the  tobacco  produced. 
Again,  these  effects  of  fertilizers  on  the  quality  of  the  to¬ 
bacco  are  materially  modified  by  fluctuations  in  seasonal 
conditions,  especially  in  amount  of  rainfall,  thus  making 
more  difficult  the  problem  of  selecting  the  proper  fertilizer, 
t  frequently  profitable  to  apply  fertilizers  to  the  tobacco 
crop  at  rates  considerably  in  excess  of  the  immediate  re- 
*  quirements  of  the  tobacco  itself,  thus  providing  for  an  im- 
,  portant  residual  effect  on  other  crops  following  in  the  rota- 
t  tion  which  in  themselves  would  not  have  a  sufficiently  high 
acre  value  to  warrant  their  receiving  direct  application  of 
the  necessary  fertilizer. 

The  best  Burley  soils  of  Kentucky  and  adjoining  States 
are  highly  productive,  and  on  such  soils,  properly  handled, 
it  is  not  ordinarily  necessary  to  apply  commercial  fertilizers 
to  the  tobacco  crop.  In  Pennsylvania  and  Wisconsin  barn¬ 
yard  manure  is  widely  used  in  lieu  of  commercial  fertilizers, 
while  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  both  manure  and  fertilizers 
are  commonly  used.  In  nearly  all  remaining  tobacco-grow¬ 
ing  districts  much  reliance  is  placed  in  commercial  fer¬ 
tilizers.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  bright  flue-cured 
districts.  The  rate  of  applying  fertilizers  ranges  from  1 
to  2  tons  per  acre  in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  600  to  1,000 
pounds  in  the  bright  flue-cured  district  amjlhe  cigar-tobacco 
district  of  Ohio,  and  300  to  500  pounds  in  most  of  the  dark 
fire-cured  and  air-cured  districts. 

The  so-called  complete  fertilizers  are  commonly  used,  but 
their  composition  varies  very  widely  in  different  localities. 
Cigar  tobaccos  require  rather  heavy  applications  of  nitrogen, 
while  the  dark  fire-cured  and  air-cured  types  and  Burley 
require  somewhat  lower  percentages  of  this  element  in  the 
fertilizer.  For  bright  flue-cured  leaf  only  the  minimum  < 
quantity  of  fertilizer  nitrogen  required  for  proper  growth 
of  the  plant  is  used.  Phosphoric  acid  is  usually  applied  in 
quantities  in  excess  of  actual  requirements  for  growth  in  , 
order  to  promote  proper  ripening.  Liberal  applications  of 
potash  are  usually  profitable  because  of  favorable  action  on 
the  quality  of  the  tobacco.  Under  certain  conditions  mag-  ' 
nesia  is  an  important  constituent  of  the  fertilizer.  Lime  , 
may  be  beneficial  or  injurious,  depending  on  soil  conditions 
and  the  type  of  tobacco. 


422  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  19&&. 

Yield  Per  Acre  in  Relation  to  Quality  of  Product. 


A  characteristic  feature  of  tobacco  culture  is  that  the 
returns  per  acre  to  the  grower  commonly  depend  quite  as 
much  or  even  more  on  the  quality  of  the  leaf  than  on  the 
yield  obtained  because  of  the  very  wide  range  in  prices 
for  the  different  grades  of  leaf.  The  highest  returns  are 
usually  derived  from  maximum  yields  of  the  finer  grades 
of  leaf  rather  than  from  maximum  total  yields.  In  some 
types,  such  as  most  cigar  tobaccos  and  dark  fire-cured  and 
air-cured  leaf,  moderately  high  yields  are  commonly  asso¬ 
ciated  with  high 
quality,  but  this  is 
not  true  of  some 
other  types.  In  the 
case  of  bright  flue- 
cured,  now  the 
world’s  leading 
type,  high  quality 
of  product  is  condi¬ 
tioned  in  such  way 
by  the  physical  and 
chemical  properties 
fig.  14.— tobacco  hornworm.  of  the  soil  that 

high  yields  are  sel- 

dom  associated  with  best  quality.  In  substantially  all  types' 
rank,  coarse  growtFls  incompatible  with  high  quality  and , 
therefore  with  maximum  returns  per  acre.  For  these  reasons 
highly  intensive  methods  involving  enrichment  of  the  soil 
are  applicable  to  tobacco  culture  only  under  certain  condi¬ 
tions  and  limitations. 


Insects  Affecting  Tobacco. 

By  far  the  most  serious  insect  pests  of  tobacco  in  the 
United  States  are  the  hornworms,  Phlegethontius  quinque- 
maculata  (northern  tobacco  worm),  and  P.  sexta  (southern 
tobacco  worm).  The  hornworms  feed ~voraciousTy  upon 
growing  tobacco  leaves  and  grow  to  a  large  size.  They  may 
be  controlled  by  dusting  with  powdered  arsenate  of  lead. 


423 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 


In  the  shade-grown  tobacco  fields  of  Georgia  and  Florida 
damage  by  the  tobacco  budworm,  Chloridea  virescens ,  is  of 
primary  importance.  The  eggs  are  deposited  in  the  buds  of 
the  plant,  and  a  single  larva  may  eat  through  several  leaves. 
As  the  leaves  grow  larger  the 
holes  likewise  become  larger, 
and  the  leaves  are  rendered  un¬ 
fit  for  wrappers.  For  control, 
apply  arsenate  of  lead  and 
corn  meal  (1  pound  of  arsenate 
of  lead  to  75  pounds  of  corn 
meal)  to  the  buds  twice  a  week 
until  the  plants  are  topped. 

The  tobacco  flea  beetle  (Fig. 

16),  Epitrix  parvula ,  attacks 
plant  beds  and  young  plants 

in  the  field  and  frequently  injures  tobacco  until  it  is  carried 
to  the  barn.  The  leaves  are  riddled  with  holes,  and  fre¬ 
quently  young  plants  are  killed  outright.  Apply  arsenate  of 
lead  or  Paris  green. 

Other  insects 
which  injure 
the  growing 
crop  are  cut¬ 
worms,  split- 
worms,  tobacco 
thrips,  several 
species  of  grass- 
hoppers,  and 
other  minor 


FIG.  15.— TOBACCO  BUDWORM, 
ADULT  FORM. 


FIG.  16.— INJURY  FROM  TOBACCO  FLEA  BEETLE. 


pests. 

Very  serious 
injury  to  stored 
and  manufac¬ 


tured  tobacco  is  caused  by  the  tobacco  beetle,  Tasiodevnut 


serricorne. 


Diseases  of  Tobacco. 


The  tobacco  plant  is  subject  to  a  number  of  diseases,  some 
of  which  are  very  important  factors  in  lowering  yield  per 


424  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

acre,  while  others  reduce  the  value  of  the  leaf  through  ren¬ 
dering  it  unsuitable  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  in¬ 
tended.  The  main  diseases  which  are  concerned  in  lowering 
production  are  the  root  rots.  These  diseases  are  not  so  evi¬ 
dent  to  the  growers  as  are  the  leaf  diseases,  but  in  the  aggre¬ 
gate  they  cause  average  annual  losses  running  into  millions 
of  dollars.  Some  progress  is  being  made  in  the  control  of 
these  troubles  through  development  of  resistant  strains,  crop 
rotation,  and  better  understanding  of  the  nature  of  these 
diseases.  The  wilt  diseases,  bacterial  wilt  and  Fusarium 
wilt,  have  not  become  widespread  in  this  country  and  are 
quite  satisfactorily  controlled  by  crop  rotation.  The  mosaic 
disease,  long  known  in  tobacco  in  this  country  but  usually 


WILDFIRE  (BACTERIUM  TABACUM)  ON  WISCONSIN 

BINDER  LEAF. 

Fig.  17. — Showing  characteristic  symptoms  of  the  disease.  This  leaf  spot 
disease  has  caused  serious  damage  in  various  sections  in  recenf  years. 

not  causing  much  concern,  seems  to  be  increasing  in  economic 
importance.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  large  acreages  of 
tobacco  very  materially  reduced  in  yield  and  quality  by  this 
disease.  Primary  infection  seems  in  most  cases  to  start  in 
the  seed  beds.  While  a  considerable  number  of  leaf-spot 
diseases  due  to  various  causes  occur  on  tobacco,  the  disease 
known  as  “  wildfire  ”  has  recently  caused  most  concern 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  425 

among  the  growers.  This  disease,  first  definitely  known  to? 
occur  in  1917  in  North  Carolina,  has  since  spread  to  practi-f 
cally  all  tobacco-growing  districts  of  the  United  States .1 
While  this  disease,  like  most  other  plant  diseases,  is  very! 
largely  dependent  upon  weather  conditions  for  its  develop-' 
ment  to  a  serious  extent,  its  range  of  activity  in  this  respect 
is  sufficiently  wide  to  make  its  occurrence  in  any  field  in  any 
year  a  serious  menace  to  the  crop.  The  disease,  in  all  certain 
cases  known  to  date,  originates  in  the  seed  bed,  and  trans¬ 
planting  of  infected  plants  should  therefore  be  carefully 
avoided.  Another  disease  of  recent  introduction  to  this 
country  is  known  as  blue  mold.  This  disease  occurred  very 
generally  in  the  seed  beds  in  the  Florida-Georgia  district  in 
1921,  but  did  not  cause  serious  damage  to  the  final  crop,  and 
apparently  did  not  reoccur  in  1922. 

Cost  of  Production. 

Tobacco  is  the  most  intensive  annual  farm  crop  grown  on 
any  considerable  acreage.  The  amount  and  distribution  of 
labor,  wages  paid  to  labor,  and  other  items  of  cost  vary 
greatly  in  the  production  of  different  types  of  tobacco.  A  J 
considerable  proportion  of  the  total  acreage  and  production 
of  tobacco  is  grown  on  relatively  cheap  land,  with  low-priced 
labor.  In  regions  where  the  growing  of  a  particular  type 
of  tobacco  has  been  profitable  land  values  and  other  costs, 
particularly  wages  paid  to  labor,  have  increased.  Ihese 
increases  have  resulted  in  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  growing  J 
an  acre  and  a  pound  of  tobacco.  In  other  words,  variations  ! 
in  the  prices  of  different  cost  items  have  had  greater  effect 
on  total  cost  of  production  than  changes  in  the  amounts  of 
the  items.  Within  a  region  cost  studies  furnish  basic  data 
for  estimating  the  cost  of  a  crop.  Individual  cost  figures 
furnish  the  tobacco  grower  with  definite  information  re¬ 
garding  the  amount  received  for  his  own  labor  when  mar¬ 
keted  in  the  form  of  tobacco.  Producers  have  a  definite 
basis  for  determining  to  what  extent  it  is  desirable  to  use 
hired  labor  in  the  production  of  tobacco. 

35896 — 23 - 5 


426  Y earhook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  192Y 

Distribution  of  Cost.1 

The  principal  items  of  cost  in  tobacco  production  are  man 
and  horse  labor,  land  rent,  and  cost  of  upkeep  and  mainte¬ 
nance  of  the  tobacco  barns.  These  combined  costs  averaged 
from  T5  to  93  per  cent  of  the  total  costs  in  the  three  districts 
under  discussion.  Of  these,  man  and  horse  labor  was  great¬ 
est,  averaging  from  45  to  G5  per  cent  of  the  total  cost.  In  1920 
the  cost  of  the  man  labor  was  $113  per  acre  in  the  Burley 
area,  $64  in  the  dark  fire-cured  area,  and  $67  in  the  Georgia 
bright  area  (Fig.  18).  This  difference  in  cost  per  acre  was 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  COST  OF  PRODUCTION,  THREE 
TOBACCO  DISTRICTS,  1920. 


LABOR  LABOR  RENT  &  STICKS  FERTILIZER  COSTS. 

Fig.  18. — Variations  in  the  items  of  cost  in  growing  an  acre  of  tobacco  in  the 
Kentucky  Burley,  Kentucky  dark  fire-cured,  and  Georgia  bright  flue-cured 
districts  for  1920.  Costs  of  man  labor,  land  rent,  and  curing  barns  were 
relatively  high  in  the  Burley  district,  while  the  cost  of  fertilizer  was  rela¬ 
tively  high  in  the  Georgia  flue-cured  district. 

due  less  to  variations  in  the  amounts  of  labor  than  in  the 
wages  paid.  The  average  rate  per  day  paid  for  man  labor 


1  The  following  data  on  Georgia  bright  tobacco  are  for  the  1920  crop  and  are 
taken  from  a  study  of  the  cost  of  producing  bright  tobacco  in  south-central 
Georgia  by  the  Georgia  Agricultural  College,  cooperating  with  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture.  For  complete  report  consult  Bulletin  250, 
Georgia  Agricultural  College,  Athens,  Ga. 

In  Kentucky  a  four-year  study  of  the  cost  of  producing  Burley  and  dark 
fire-cured  tobacco  was  begun  in  1919  and  was  completed  in  1922.  The 
Burley  cost  figures  were  obtained  near  Lexington  and  the  dark  fire-cured 
figures  near  Hopkinsville.  This  work  was  done  by  the  University  of  Ken¬ 
tucky,  cooperating  with  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  Bulle¬ 
tin  229,  for  the  crop  of  1919,  and  preliminary  reports  for  succeeding  crops 
have  been  issued  by  the  Kentucky  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  University 
of  Kentucky,  Lexington,  Ky. 


427 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 

was  $3.44  in  the  Burley  area,  $2.58  in  the  dark  fire-cured 
area,  and  $1.67  in  the  Georgia  area.  The  horse-labor  cost 
for  each  area  varied  slightly  with  regard  to  cost  per  day 
and  total  days  required.  As  an  item  of  cost  horse  labor  was 
of  relatively  more  importance  in  the  Georgia  bright-tobacco 
area,  where  it  was  16  per  cent  of  the  total  cost,  as  compared 
to  7  and  14  per  cent  in  the  Kentucky  Burley  and  dark  fire- 
cured  areas. 

Distribution  of  Labor. 

The  amounts  of  man  and  horse  labor  required  to  grow 
and  market  an  acre  of  tobacco  vary  considerably  with  regard 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  LABOR  IN  GROWING  OF  TOBACCO, 
THREE  PRODUCING  DISTRICTS. 

HOURS  PER  ACRE 

0  20  40  60  80  100  120  140  O  20  40  60  0  20  40  60  80  100  120 


PLANT  BED 

FIELD  PREPARATION 


TRANSPLANTING 

CULTIVATING 

TOPPING  WORMING 
SUCKERING  AND 
SPR  AVING 

HARVESTING 


CURING 

STRIPPING  AND 

MARKETING 


Fig.  19. — Distribution  by  districts  of  man  and  horse  hours  required  to  grow 
an  acre  of  tobacco.  Differences  in  methods  of  growing  and  handling  the 
crop  cause  rather  wide  variations  in  labor  requirements,  especially  in  har¬ 
vesting,  curing,  stripping,  and  marketing  in  the  different  districts. 


MAN  LABOR 


^ HORSE  LABOR 


to  type.  Records  from  the  three  areas  under  discussion 
indicate  that  an  average  of  262  hours  of  man  labor  were 
required  to  produce  an  acre  of  Kentucky  dark  fire-cured 
tobacco,  375  hours  to  produce  an  acre  of  Burley  tobacco,  and 
403  hours  for  the  production  of  an  acre  of  Georgia  bright 
tobacco.  The  amount  of  horse  labor  required  per  acie  was 


found  to  be  89  hours  in  the  dark  fire-cured  area,  98  hours 
in  the  Burley  area,  and  90  hours  in  the  Georgia  bright  area. 

The  chief  variations  in  labor  requirements  are  found  in 
harvesting,  curing,  stripping,  and  marketing.  (Fig.  19.) 
In  Georgia  the  leaves  are  pulled  from  the  stalk,  while  in 
both  Kentucky  areas  the  tobacco  plant  is  cut.  Bulling  or 


428  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

priming  requires  a  greater  amount  of  labor  tjian  cutting,  as 
in  the  former  case  the  field  must  be  gone  over  several  times. 
In  Georgia  curing  tobacco  required  an  average  of  59  hours 
of  man  labor  per  acre.  In  the  Kentucky  dark  fire-cured 
area  24  hours  were  required  per  acre,  while  in  the  Burley 
area,  where  tobacco  is  air  cured,  the  labor  requirement  for 
curing  was  negligible.  Preparing  for  market  and  market¬ 
ing  the  crop  required  about  38  per  cent  of  the  total  man 
labor  in  the  Burley  area,  which  was  considerably  more  than 
required  by  any  other  operation.  In  the  Kentucky  dark 
fire-cuied  area  about  25  per  cent  of  the  total  labor  was  for 
stripping  and  marketing.  In  the  Georgia  bright  area, 
where  the  tobacco  is  picked,  only  18  per  cept  of  the  total 
labor  was  for  preparing  and  hauling  the  crop  to  market. 


Land  Rent. 


The  Kentucky  Burley  tobacco  area  is  in  the  limestone 
region  of  the  State.  This  land  is  high  priced,  especially 
when  compared  with  the  tobacco  land  in  the  Kentucky  dark 
fire-cured  and  the  Georgia  bright  areas.  In  1920  the  use  of 
land  in  the  Kentucky  areas  as  determined  by  its  cash  rental 
value  averaged  $107  per  acre  in  the  Burley  area  and  $17  in 
the  dark  fire-cured  area.  In  the  Georgia  bright  area  the 
rental  charge  was  figured  at  10  per  cent  of  the  land  value 
and  amounted  to  $7.20  per  acre.  (Fig.  18.)  While  undoubt¬ 
edly  land  rents  are  lower  now,  especially  in  the  Burley  area, 
these  figures  reflect  somewhat  the  rental  value  of  the  land 
in  the  three  areas  as  measured  by  the  type  of  tobacco  grown 
and  by  the  amount  and  qualitv  of  yield  per  acre.  In  the 
Burley  area  land  rent  was  34  per  cent  of  total  cost,  in  the 
dark  fire-cured  area  18  per  cent,  and  in  the  Georgia  bright 
area  5  per  cent. 

Barns  and  Sticks. 


The  average  cost  of  maintenance,  depreciation,  and  inter¬ 
est  on  investment  in  barns  and  sticks  varied  from  7  to  10 
per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of  producing  tobacco  in  these  areas. 
In  Georgia  relatively  small  tobacco  barns  are  required. 
They  are  constructed  principally  of  logs  and  fitted  with  fire 
boxes  and  flues.  The  flues  are  short  lived,  and  the  fire  boxes 


429 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture . 

require  constant  repairs,  which  add  materially  to  the  cost 
of  upkeep.  In  the  Burley  area  the  barns  are  well  built  and 
are  larger  and  more  expensive  than  in  the  Georgia  area. 
Burley  tobacco  is  an  air-cured  type  and  requires  greater 
space  and  better  ventilation,  so  that  the  barns  must  be  rela¬ 
tively  large.  In  the  dark  fire-cured  area  of  Kentucky  the 
barns  are  similar  to  those  in  the  Georgia  area,  with  the 
exception  that  flues  and  fire  boxes  are  not  used.  The  tobacco 
sticks  are  sometimes  produced  on  the  farm  and  sometimes 
purchased.  A  charge  for  sticks  for  each  region  is  included 
in  the  total  barn  charge. 

f 

Fertilizers. 

The  records  indicate  that  in  both  Kentucky  areas  very 
little  expense  was  incurred  for  commercial  fertilizer  and 
barnyard  manure.  During  the  relatively  high  prices  of  1920 
the  cost  for  commercial  fertilizer  and  manure  averaged  less 
than  $2  per  acre  in  the  Burley  area  and  slightly  over  $5 
per  acre  in  the  dark  fire-cured  area.  (Fig.  18.)  In  Georgia 
bright  tobacco  is  grown  on  thin  sandy  soil  and  requires  a 
large  amount  of  complete  commercial  fertilizer.  Very  little 
barnyard  manure  is  used  in  this  area,  as  its  use  tends  to 
produce  a  rough,  coarse  plant.  During  1920  the  average  ap¬ 
plication  of  fertilizer  in  the  Georgia  bright-tobacco  area  cost 
slightly  over  $24  per  acre.  Fertilizer  costs  constituted  1  per 
cent  of  the  total  cost  in  the  Burley  area,  4  per  cent  in  the 
fire-cured  area,  and  17  per  cent  in  the  Georgia  bright  area. 

Other  Costs. 

These  costs  are  made  up  of  machinery,  insurance,  a  charge 
for  hiring  a  tobacco  demonstrator,  and  miscellaneous  cash 
costs. 

Tobacco  farms  as  a  rule  have  a  relatively  small  investment 
in  machinery.  Tobacco-transplanting  machines  were  used  to 
a  limited  extent  in  each  area  and  represent  a  considerable 
part  of  the  machinery  charge.  Including  interest,  depre¬ 
ciation,  and  repairs,  the  machinery  cost  averaged  only  1  to¬ 
per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of  producing  tobacco  in  1920. 

In  both  Kentucky  areas  a  charge  for  hail  and  fire  insurance 
was  made  for  each  farm.  The  rate  used  in  calculating  this 
charge  was  determined  from  the  farms  having  an  actual  cadi 


430  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

cost  for  such  risks.  This  item  represents  from  4  to  5  per 
cent  of  the  total  cost  of  tobacco  production  in  these  dis¬ 
tricts.  In  the  Georgia  area  no  charge  was  made  for  hail 
and  fire  insurance. 

Miscellaneous  costs  are  made  up  of  minor  items,  such  as 
canvas,  spray  material,  wood  or  coal  for  bed  preparation  and 
curing,  and  small  cash  payments  for  plants  or  tobacco  seed. 
While  these  items  are  absolutely  necessary  in  the  production 
of  the  crop,  they  represent  a  relatively  small  proportion  of 
the  total  cost  of  growing  an  acre  of  tobacco  and  averaged 
from  2  to  3  per  cent  of  the  total  costs  in  the  various  areas. 

In  the  Georgia  bright-tobacco  area  an  experienced  to¬ 
bacco  man  was  hired  for  1920  to  instruct  the  farmers  in 
methods  of  growing  and  handling  the  crop.  Such  men  were 
hired  by  only  a  part  of  the  farmers  included  in  this  study. 
In  certain  instances  the  demonstrator  received  10  per  cent 
of  the  net  receipts  from  the  tobacco  crop  after  deducting 
warehouse  charges,  in  other  cases  a  flat  rate  of  $8  per  acre 
was  paid  for  his  assistance.  The  average  for  all  farms  in 
1920  was  $5.15  per  acre,  which  was  about  4  per  cent  of  the 
total  cost  of  growing  the  crop. 

Relation  of  Yield  to  Cost. 

# 

Costs  vary  not  only  on  different  tobacco  farms  for  a  partic¬ 
ular  season,  but  also  on  the  same  farm  from  year  to  year. 
Such  variations  may  be  due  to  unfavorable  weather,  to 
diseases,  to  insect  pests,  or  to  the  management  of  the  oper¬ 
ator.  Variations  in  the  cost  of  producing  a  pound  of  tobacco 
are  due  to  variations  in  the  cost  expended  per  acre  and  in 
the  yield  obtained.  A  grouping  of  the  tobacco  records  ac¬ 
cording  to  an  increase  in  yield  per  acre  shows  that  the  cost 
per  acre  increased  with  yield  and  the  cost  per  pound  de¬ 
creased.  (Fig.  20.)  It  was  found  that  in  the  Kentucky 
Burley  area  for  1919  the  farms  producing  from  600  to  1,000 
pounds  per  acre  had  an  average  cost  of  $237  per  acre  and  30 
cents  per  pound,  while  those  that  yielded  over  1,500  pounds 
per  acre  (averaging  1,580  pounds)  produced  at  a  cost  of 
$330  per  acre  and  24  cents  per  pound.  In  the  Kentucky 
dark  fire-cured  area  cost  increased  from  $118  per  acre  for 
the  farms  having  an  average  yield  of  393  pounds  to  $136 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture . 


431 


for  t lie  farms  averaging  1,306  pounds  per  acre,  but  the  cost 
per  pound  for  the  low-yielding  group  was  30  cents  as  com¬ 
pared  to  10.5  cents  for  the  high-yielding  group.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  a  rank,  coarse  growth  is  quite 
often  associated  with  poor  quality  and  low  returns  per 
pound.  Therefore  a  reduction  in  cost  per  pound  through 
larger  yields  should  not  be  encouraged  to  the  extent  of 
sacrificing  the  quality. 

Financing  Tobacco  Production. 

Tobacco  is  a  cash  crop  of  high  acre  value,  requiring  much 
hand  labor  but  little  machinery,  and  therefore  is  well 
adapted  to  a  tenancy  system.  In  some  northern  tobacco- 


RELATION  OF  YIELD  PER  ACRE  TO  COST  OF  PRODUCTION, 

THREE  TOBACCO  DISTRICTS. 

COST 


Fig.  20. — Influence  of  yield  per  acre  on  the  cost  of  producing  a  pound  of 
tobacco.  While  the  cost  per  acre  usually  increases  with  the  yield  the  cost 
per  pound  tends  to  decrease.  TTigh  yields  involving  a  rank,  coarse  growth, 
however,  are  often  associated  with  poor  quality  and  low  returns  per  pound. 


growing  sections  most  of  the  tobacco  farms  are  operated  b\ 
owners,  while  m  other  sections  probably  as  much  as  half  of 
the  total  production  is  under  some  form  of  tenancy.  In  some 
sections  considerable  tobacco  is  grown  on  a  cash  lental  basis 
in  which  the  owner  furnishes  only  the  land.  Under  the 
share  rental  system,  which  is  rather  common  in  several  dis¬ 
tricts,  the  tenant  may  operate  the  entire  farm  or  lie  may  be 
simply  a  “cropper,"  growing  only  tobacco.  In  both  cases 


432  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  192. 1 

the  tenant  usually  receives  half  the  value  of  the  crop.  The 
principal  item  furnished  by  the  tenant  is  hand  labor,  the 
division  of  most  other  items  between  landlord  and  tenant 
varying  considerably.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  prob¬ 
ably  a  majority  of  tobacco  growers  owning  their  farms  re¬ 
quire  no  financial  aid  in  producing  the  crop.  When  such 
aid  is  needed  it  is  usually  extended  by  local  banks  on  per¬ 
sonal  notes  without  indorsement.  Mortgages  on  live  stock 
or  crop  liens  are  not  commonly  given  as  security  for  cash 
advances  during  the  crop  year.  The  tenant  in  some  cases  is 
financed  entirely  by  the  farm  owner,  who  is  reimbursed  when 
the  crop  is  sold.  In  many  cases,  however,  the  tenant  borrows 
from  local  banks  on  his  personal  note,  which  is  to  be  retired 
when  the  tobacco  is  sold  and  which  usually  must  bear  in¬ 
dorsement.  In  some  sections  merchants  and  dealers  extend 
credit  to  growers  for  fertilizers  and  implements. 

In  the  Burley  district  of  Kentucky  the  majority  of  the 
farms  are  operated  by  the  owners,  but  the  tobacco  crop  is 
produced  largely  by  croppers,  who  usually  receive  half  the 
proceeds,  except  where  the  owner  furnishes  teams  and  ma¬ 
chinery,  in  which  case  the  cropper’s  share  is  one-third  the 
proceeds.  Similar  conditions  exist  in  western  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  except  that  a  somewhat  larger  proportion 
of  the  crop  is  produced  by  farm  owners.  Financing  tobacco 
production  in  these  States  is  accomplished  in  much  the  same 
way  as  in  northern  tobacco-growing  districts. 

In  the  South  Atlantic  States,  more  particularly  in  the 
Coastal  Plains  region,  the  percentage  of  tenancy  is  very 
high  on  tobacco  farms,  with  a  large  proportion  of  owners 
nonresident  on  the  farm.  The  tenant’s  share  of  the  crop 
is  one-half  or  two-thirds,  depending  on  whether  the  land¬ 
lord  furnishes  all  or  only  one -third  the  fertilizer  used,  the 
tenant  in  both  cases  furnishing  labor,  teams,  and  machinery. 
The  tenant  is  financed  chiefly  by  the  landlord  or  the  local 
supply  merchant,  who  is  also  a  fertilizer  dealer.  Crop  liens 
and  chattel  mortgages  are  commonly  taken  as  security.  In 
the  Piedmont  section  the  farms  are  smaller,  and  a  larger 
proportion  of  owners  operate  their  farms.  Under  the  rental 
agreement  chiefly  employed,  the  tenant  furnishes  teams,  ma¬ 
chinery  and  labor  and  three-fourths  of  the  fertilizer  and 
receives  three-fourths  of  the  crop.  The  tobacco  crop  is 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  '433 

grown  more  largely  on  a  cash  basis.  Larger  landowners 
borrow  from  local  banks  and  furnish  their  tenants,  so  that 
crop  liens  are  not  extensively  employed. 

Tobacco  Marketing. 

The  marketing  of  tobacco  varies  considerably  in  different 
tobacco-producing  sections  of  the  country.  In  general  there 
are  three  methods — the  auction  system,  farm  selling,  and  co¬ 
operative  marketing. 

The  auction  system  is  practiced  principally  in  Maryland. 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennes¬ 
see,  Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  southern  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Missouri.  Most  tobacco  produced  in  the  cigar-leaf  sections 
of  Wisconsin,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Florida,  Georgia,  and  the 
Connecticut  Valley  is  marketed  on  the  farm.  Cooperative 
marketing  is  practiced  more  or  less  in  every  tobacco-produc¬ 
ing  section  of  the  country.  There  is  only  a  small  amount  of 
tobacco  that  is  not  marketed  by  one  of  these  methods. 

Preparation  of  Tobacco  for  Sale  Under  Auction  System. 

In  preparing  tobacco  to  be  sold  at  auction,  as  soon  as  the 
tobacco  is  cured  it  is  brought  into  a  soft,  pliable  condition 
and  assorted  according  to  quality,  color,  length,  and  other 
factors.  Where  the  tobacco  is  cured  on  the  stalk  the  leaves 
must  first  be  stripped  from  the  stalks  for  assorting.  The 
number  of  lots  made  by  each  producer  varies  considerably, 
depending  upon  the  accuracy  with  which  the  tobacco  is  as¬ 
sorted  and  also  upon  the  size  and  character  of  the  crop. 
From  5  to  12  lots  are  usually  made  from  each  curing  or  barn 
of  tobacco.  Except  for  a  general  knowledge  of  the  qualities 
of  tobacco  farmers  have  no  guide  in  this  assorting  process. 
In  most  cases  they  separate  their  tobacco  into  lots  of  similar 
character  without  knowing  to  what  grades  the  tobacco  be¬ 
longs  or  for  what  use  the  tobacco  is  suited.  This  being  tiue, 
the  farmer  is  at  a  loss  to  know  the  market  value  of  his  to¬ 
bacco  even  after  carefully  assorting  it.  The  principal  reason 
'  for  this  condition  is  due  to  the  fact  that  theie  aie  no  gen 
erally  recognized  standard  grades  for  tobacco. 

After  the  tobacco  is  assorted  into  various  lots  by  the 
farmer  it  is  tied  into  hands,  or  bundles,  as  they  are  some- 


434  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

times  called,  each  hand  containing  5  to  25  leaves.  The  hands 
are  then  hung  on  laths  or  sticks  so  that  they  can  be  handled 
easily  without  breaking  or  tangling  the  tobacco.  The  to¬ 
bacco  is  then  conditioned  for  market.  Tobacco  is  usually 
conditioned  on  the  farm  in  one  of  three  ways,  (1)  by  hang¬ 
ing  it  loosely  in  an  open  shed  during  a  warm  moist  day,  (2) 
by  hanging  it  in  a  damp  cellar  or  steam  room,  (3)  by 
sprinkling  it  lightly  with  water  and  packing  it  into  a  bulk. 
In  conditioning  for  market  the  general  tendency  is  to  put 
too  much  moisture  in  the  tobacco,  especially  when  it  is 
sprinkled,  and  sometimes  it  is  delivered  wet  and  badly 
bruised.  To  be  in  the  best  marketable  condition  the  to¬ 
bacco  should  contain  from  15  to  20  per  cent  of  moisture. 

The  Auction  Methods  of  Selling. 

Tobacco  is  sold  at  auction  in  three  ways— by  publicly 
selling  loose  or  unpacked  tobacco  to  the  highest  bidder,  by 
publicly  selling  in  packed  form  to  the  highest  bidder,  and 
by  closed-bids  auction  of  packed  tobacco. 

The  loose-leaf  auction  system. — The  first  method,  often  re¬ 
ferred  to  as  the  loose-leaf  auction  system,  is  the  method  by 
which  the  majority  of  tobacco  produced  in  the  United  States 
in  the  past  two  decades  has  been  sold.  Practically  all  of  the 
auction  markets  of  the  country  operate  on  the  loose-leaf 
auction  plan,  with  the  exception  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  which 
is  a  packed-tobacco  market  operating  under  the  closed-bid 
auction  plan,  and  Louisville,  Ky.,  which  is  a  packed-tobacco 
market  operating  on  the  public-auction  plan.  The  market 
at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  is  operated  principally  on  the  loose-leaf 
auction  plan,  but  it  has  also  a  public  auction  market  for 
packed  tobacco. 

As  a  rule  the  tobacco  is  taken  to  the  loose-leaf  auction 
market  on  the  laths,  where  each  lot  is  stripped  from  the 
laths  and  placed  into  a  large  flat-bottomed  basket.  The 
baskets  containing  the  tobacco  are  then  weighed  and  ar¬ 
ranged  according  to  quality  in  rows  on  the  floor  of  a  loose- 
leaf  auction  sales  warehouse.  In  some  markets,  instead  of 
using  baskets,  the  lots  are  merely  weighed  and  placed  in 
piles  on  the  floor  of  the  warehouse.  On  each  basket  or  pile 
is  placed  a  ticket  showing  the  name  of  the  farmer  who  owns 
the  tobacco,  the  number  of  pounds  contained  in  the  lot,  and 


r 


435 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 

the  consecutive  number  given  to  the  lot.  The  tobacco  is 
then  sold  in  piles  or  lots  ranging  from  10  to  1,500  pounds 
to  the  highest  bidder  at  public  auction.  As  the  sale  pro¬ 
ceeds  from  basket  to  basket  a  clerk  of  the  warehouse  enters 
on  each  ticket  the  price  per  pound  at  which  the  tobacco  is 
sold,  the  name  of  the  buyer,  and  the  grade  assigned  to  the 
lot  by  the  buyer.  As  a  rule,  the  buyers  for  the  large  com¬ 
panies  are  governed  in  their  bids  entirely  by  their  private 
grades,  so  it  becomes  largely  a  matter  on  the  auction  floors 


Fig.  21. — 

weighed, 
accordin 
baskets, 
cession, 
the  net 


'he  different  lots  of  tobacco  as  brought  in  by  the  farmer  are 
properly  tagged,  and  arranged  in  piles  on  the  warehouse  floor 
to  grade,  usually  after  having  first  been  placed  in  flat-bottom 
At  the  appointed  hour  the  piles  are  auctioned  off  in  rapid  suc- 
The  warehouseman,  after  deducting  certain  fees,  pays  to  the  farmer 
roeeeds  and  collects  this  amount  from  the  buyer. 


for  the  buyer  first  to  determine  to  which  of  his  grades,  if 
any,  a  certain  lot  of  tobacco  belongs.  Having  determined 
the  grade,  he  knows  the  limit  that  his  company  allows  him 
to  bid  on  the  lot.  Each  buyer  or  manufacturer  has  for  his 
own  use  a  private  system  of  grades.  After  the  tobacco  once 
leaves  the  farmer’s  hands  it  is  handled  almost  entirely  by 


436  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

In  some  of  the  larger  markets  the  sales  proceed  very 
rapidly.  In  many  markets  the  local  board  of  trade  requires 
the  auctioneer  to  sell  as  high  as  240  lots  of  tobacco  in  an 
hour’s  time.  After  the  sale  is  over  the  farmer  has  a  right 
to  refuse  the  price  offered,  in  which  case  he  can  either  have 
the  tobacco  put  up  at  auction  the  second  time  or  have  it  re¬ 
moved  from  the  warehouse  for  sale  elsewhere.  If  the  price 
offered  is  accepted,  the  auction-sales  warehouseman  renders 
the  farmer  an  account,  showing  the  number  of  pounds  and 
the  price  of  each  lot  sold,  and  gives  him  a  check  for  the  total 
amount  of  the  sale,  less  the  warehouse  charges,  which  usually 
include  an  auction  fee,  a  weighing  charge,  and  a  commission 
for  selling. 

Each  buyer  removes  the  tobacco  purchased  by  him  from 
the  auction-sales  warehouse  to  a  redrying  plant  or  packing 
house,  where  the  tobacco  is  placed  in  a  safekeeping  condition 
and  packed  into  hogsheads,  ready  for  storage  or  shipment. 
A  large  percentage  of  the  tobacco  is  bought  direct  by  the 
manufacturer,  in  which  case  the  tobacco,  after  being  condi¬ 
tioned  and  packed,  is  usually  shipped  to  the  private-storage 
warehouse  of  the  manufacturer,  where  it  remains  in  storage 
until  it  is  ready  to  be  manufactured.  The  large  amount  of 
tobacco  bought  for  export  trade  is  shipped  abroad  for  stor¬ 
age.  Most  of  the  independent  buyers  have  their  tobacco 
stored  in  public  storage  warehouses,  where  the  tobacco  is 
held  for  resale.  In  such  cases  tobacco  is  usually  resold  on 
samples  which  are  taken  from  the  hogsheads  of  tobacco  while 
in  storage. 

Selling  in  packed  form  at  public  auction. — Tobacco  to  be 
sold  at  public  auction  in  packed  form  is  prepared  by  the 
farmers  in  the  same  way  as  tobacco  to  be  sold  under  the 
loose-leaf  auction  system,  except  that  it  is  packed  into  hogs¬ 
heads  or  tierces  containing  from  500  to  2,000  pounds  and 
then  shipped  to  sales  warehouses.  When  tobacco  is  offered 
for  selling,  the  packages  are  arranged  in  rows  on  the  floor  of 
the  warehouse  in  very  much  the  same  manner  that  the  bas¬ 
kets  are  arranged  on  the  floor  of  a  loose-leaf  auction  ware¬ 
house.  The  packages  are  then  opened  up  in  a  manner  that 
will  not  disturb  the  form  of  packing.  The  tobacco  is  then 
sold  at  public  auction  as  the  buyers  pass  from  lot  to  lot 
examining  and.  bidding  on  the  tobacco.  When  the  sale  is 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 


437 


Over  the  lots  are  placed  back  into  the  same  containers  and 
returned  to  storage,  where  the  tobacco  is  held  for  resale  or 
manufacture  by  the  new  owner. 

The  closed-bid  auction  method. — Under  the  closed-bid 
auction  plan  the  packages  are  prepared  in  the  same  form  as 
when  the  tobacco  is  sold  in  packed  form,  but  the  containers 
are  opened  up  and  sampled  when  they  are  received  at  the 
warehouse.  Samples  are  made  up  of  from  four  to  nine  hands 
drawn  from  different  parts  of  the  package  and  are  labeled  to 
preserve  the  identity  of  the  sample  and  sealed  to  prevent 
substitution.  At  some 
warehouses  these  samples  are 
drawn  and  sealed  by  per¬ 
sons  who  are  licensed  under 
the  United  States  ware¬ 
house  act  for  the  purpose. 

The  samples  are  then  dis¬ 
played  by  the  broker  or 
commission  merchant  to 
whom  the  tobacco  was  con¬ 
signed  for  sale.  Each 
b liver  enters  on  a  slip  of 
paper,  opposite  the  number 
of  each  sample,  the  price 
per  pound  which  he  is  will¬ 
ing  to  give  for  the  lot  rep¬ 
resented  by  the  sample  and 
drops  it  into  a  box.  At  the 
end  of  the  day  the  box  is 
opened  and  the  tobacco  is 
sold  to  the  buyer  who  offers 
the  highest  price. 

The  distribution  of  principal  markets  for  the  first-hand 
sale  of  leaf  tobacco  is  shown  in  Figure  22, 

Farm  Selling  of  tobacco. 

Possibly  next  to  the  auction-sales  method  of  selling  to¬ 
bacco  the  most  general  practice  is  to  sell  the  tobacco  on  1 10 
farm  to  buyers  who  visit  producing  districts.  In  most  sec¬ 
tions  in  which  tobacco  is  thus  sold  the  farmer  makes  little 


Fig.  22. — Market  centers  for  first-hand 
sales  of  leaf  tobacco  are  located 
mainly  within  the  principal  produc¬ 
ing  districts.  Where  the  loose-leaf 
auction  system  of  selling  prevails 
there  are  usually  numerous  smaller 
markets,  in  addition  to  the  laigei 
market  centers. 


438  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

attempt  to  assort  his  tobacco  with  respect  to  quality.  As 
soon  as  the  tobacco  is  cured,  the  farmer  watches  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  when  lie  can  find  the  tobacco  in  a  natural  condition, 
soft  enough  to  be  handled  without  breaking.  He  then  takes 
the  tobacco  down  from  the  barns  or  sheds,  strips  the  leaves 
from  the  stalks,  and  ties  them  roughly  into  large  hands, 
which  are  packed  into  bundles  of  approximately  100  pounds 
each.  Usually  before  the  tobacco  is  taken  down  from  the 
barns  or  after  it  has  been  placed  into  bundles  it  is  examined 
by  country  buyers  and  bought,  but  very  often  it  is  bought 
at  a  general  average  price  without  being  examined.  The 
tobacco  is  then  delivered  to  a  place  designated  by  the  buyer, 
where  the  bundles  are  opened  up,  the  hands  untied,  and  the 
tobacco  assorted  according  to  the  buyer’s  grades.  The 
tobacco  is  then  retied  into  hands  and  conditioned  for  storage. 
After  conditioning  the  tobacco  is  ordinarily  packed  into 
cases  averaging  about  300  pounds  and  placed  in  storage 
warehouses. 

After  the  tobacco  has  passed  through  the  spring  sweat 
the  cases  are  opened  up  and  sampled,  at  which  time  it  is 
offered  for  sale  to  the  manufacturer.  The  tobacco  is  usually 
sold  by  the  dealers  according  to  the  quality  of  each  lot, 
Avhereas  the  farmer  sells  the  tobacco  unassorted  for  a  gen¬ 
eral  average  price.  In  some  instances  the  tobacco  is  bought 
by  representatives  of  the  manufacturer  direct  from  the 
farmer,  in  which  case  the  manufacturer  has  the  tobacco 
assorted  and  packed  for  storage  in  the  same  manner  as  is 
ordinarily  practiced  by  the  independent  country  buyer. 
The  contract  method  of  buying  is  practiced  to  a  large  extent 
in  many  of  the  cigar-leaf  producing  sections.  Very  often 
the  country  buyers  purchase  a  large  percentage  of  the  year’s 
crop  before  it  is  harvested,  the  farmer  agreeing  to  deliver 
the  tobacco  after  it  is  produced,  cured,  and  packed  into 
bundles. 

In  all  sections  in  which  farm  selling  is  practiced  the 
farmers  have  practically  no  conception  of  tobacco  grades, 
and  very  few  realize  the  wide  variation  in  the  prices  of 
tobacco  of  different  qualities.  Their  main  source  of  infor¬ 
mation  as  to  the  value  of  tobacco  is  the  price  received  by 
neighbors,  which  is  usually  a  flat  price  of  so  many  cents 
per  pound  for  all  qualities  of  tobacco.  The  farmer  who 


439 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 

sells  his  tobacco  at  an  average  of  30  cents  has  very  little 
idea  what  proportion  of  it  has  a  market  value  of  from  3  to  5 
cents  per  pound  and  what  from  80  to  90  cents  per  pound. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  there  are  no  standard  grades  by 
which  the  farmer  can  be  governed.  With  tobacco  varying 
in  price  from  1  cent  to  $2  per  pound,  it  is  not  practical  for 
a  farmer  to  estimate  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  the  market 
value  of  his  tobacco  without  the  use  of  some  uniform  system 
of  grades.  Neither  is  it  possible  for  market  quotations  to 
be  of  much  value  without  standard  grades. 

Cooperative  Marketing. 


Cooperative  marketing  has  followed  principally  three  gen¬ 
eral  lines:  Cooperative  packing,  cooperative  sales  agencies, 
and  cooperative  pooling. 

C  ooperative  packing. — In  many  sections  farmers  have 
found  that  it  was  impracticable  for  them  to  pack  their  indi¬ 
vidual  crops  for  storage,  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
unable  to  employ  expert  assorters  and  also  on  account  of 
the  small  size  of  the  lots  of  tobacco  of  a  particular  quality 
that  would  be  produced  on  a  single  farm.  To  own  and 
operate  cooperative  packing  houses  where  the  tobacco  could 
be  assorted  into  lots  of  like  qualities  by  trained  men  has 
proved  of  advantage.  In  this  way  the  farmeis  veie  abh 
to  pack  complete  cases  or  hogsheads  of  tobacco  of  similai 
quality,  whereas  in  individual  packing  it  would  be  neces¬ 
sary  in  most  instances  to  mix  the  different  qualities  in  ordei 
to  fill  cases  of  commercial  size.  1  he  packing  houses  as  a 
rule  have  not  been  altogether  successful,  due,  perhaps,  to 
the  fact  that  they  were  not  able  to  operate  continually  from 
year  to  year.  In  years  in  which  there  was  little  demand  for 
tobacco  the  packing  houses  had  more  tobacco  than  they  could 
conveniently  care  for,  while  in  other  years  when  the  demand 
and  prices  were  good  the  farmers  would  sell  their  tobacco 
direct  to  the  dealers  and  manufacturers  without  packing, 
leaving  the  packing  houses  idle.  Ordinarily  no  special  pi<>- 
visi'ons  were  made  for  the  sale  of  the  tobacco  which  was 
jointly  packed  in  this  manner.  Each  farmer  or  group  o 
farmers  interested  in  a  particular  packing  was  required  to 

be  his  own  sales  agent. 


440  Yearbook  oj  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  192%. 

Cooperative  sales  agencies. — In  some  sections  farmers  or¬ 
ganize  cooperative  sales  agencies  in  connection  with  their 
packing  houses.  These  agencies  sell  the  tobacco  that  is  co¬ 
operatively  packed  by  the  farmers.  In  practically  all  cases 
the  individual  farmer  reserves  the  right  to  accept  or  reject 
the  price  offered  to  these  agencies,  and  in  most  cases  the 
individual  farmer  is  allowed  to  sell  his  packing  independent 
of  agencies.  However,  this  is  limited  to  some  extent  in  some 
agencies  by  requiring  the  individual  producer  when  selling 
his  tobacco  independent  of  the  agency  to  pay  a  fee  to  the 
agency.  In  other  sections  the  agencies  were  formed  inde¬ 
pendent  of  the  cooperative-packing  plants.  In  these  sections 
the  individual  farmer  usually  does  his  own  assorting  and 
packing  and  ships  his  tobacco  to  a  storage  warehouse  under 
consignment  to  the  cooperative-selling  agency.  The  coopera¬ 
tive  agency  in  this  particular  instance  performs  the  function 
of  a  commission  merchant. 

Cooperative  pooling. — The  most  common  form  of  coopera¬ 
tive  marketing  that  is  practiced  is  cooperative  pooling. 
Pools  have  been  formed  in  practically  every  section  of  the 
country  in  which  tobacco  is  produced.  Until  recent  years 
the  pooling  idea  has  been  worked  out  on  a  small  scale  in 
most  sections,  but  during  the  last  two  years  several  very 
large  pools  have  been  formed.  These  large  cooperative  pools 
have  absorbed  a  number  of  the  smaller  pools,  and  one  of  the 
principles  on  which  they  are  formed  is  to  control  a  large 
percentage  of  the  production  in  certain  areas.  In  organizing 
a  pool  of  this  kind,  from  50  to  75  per  cent  of  the  tobacco  pro¬ 
duced  in  a  particular  section  is  determined  upon  as  a  goal, 
and  the  organization  is  not  put  into  operation  until  this 
percentage  of  the  tobacco  has  been  pledged  to  the  pool  by 
individual  farmers  who  sign  contracts.  In  these  contracts 
the  farmers  agree  to  sell  and  deliver  their  entire  crops  of 
tobacco  for  a  certain  number  of  years  to  the  pool,  or  co¬ 
operative  association,  which  will  sell  the  tobacco  and  make 
returns  to  the  farmers  after  deducting  all  operating  expenses. 
These  cooperative  associations  are  organized  without  capital 
stock. 

To  secure  the  necessary  funds  to  pay  for  the  operating 
expenses  of  the  association  and  to  make  advances  to  its  mem¬ 
bers  the  association  borrows  money  on  its  notes,  which  are 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  441 

usually  secured  by  warehouse  receipts  showing  the  type, 
form,  grade,  weight,  and  condition  of  the  tobacco,  and  the 
obligations  assumed  by  the  warehouseman.  The  grade  or 
other  class  of  the  tobacco  shown  on  the  warehouse  receipts,  if 
issued  under  the  United  States  warehouse  act,  are  usually 
taken  from  an  official  inspection,  grade,  and  weight  certificate 
issued  at  the  conditioning  plant.  This  is  done  in  order  to 
save  opening  up  the  tobacco  after  being  received  into  storage, 
which  is  not  only  expensive  but  causes  considerable  damage 
to  the  tobacco. 

The  associations  found  that  in  many  cases  the  number  of 
public  storage  houses  available  was  not  sufficient  to  take  care 
of  their  storage  requirements,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
organize  subsidiary  warehousing  corporations  to  perform  this 
function.  These  corporations  are  organized  as  a  rule  with 
sufficient  capital  stock  to  purchase,  own,  and  operate  storage 
warehouses.  In  some  cases  these  subsidiary  corporations  own  „ 
and  operate  redrying  and  conditioning  plants  in  connection 
with  the  operation  of  storage  warehouses,  and  in  other  cases 
they  own  and  operate  assorting  and  packing  houses  in  which 
the  tobacco  is  prepared  for  storage. 

Under  the  pooling  plan  the  tobacco  is  assorted  and  tied 
into  hands  by  the  individual  farmer  and  delivered  to  the 
receiving  warehouses  of  the  association  at  such  times  and 
places  as  it  directs.  As  the  tobacco  is  received  into  the  ware¬ 
houses  of  the  association  it  is  weighed,  placed  into  baskets, 
and  tagged  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  case  of  the  auction 
system,  but  instead  of  selling  it  at  auction  the  baskets  are 
graded  by  expert  graders  who  are  employed  by  the  associa¬ 
tion.  Each  farmer  is  given  a  statement  showing  the  grades 
of  the  tobacco  delivered  to  the  association  with  the  weight 
of  each  grade.  At  the  same  time  an  advance  payment  is 
made  on  the  tobacco  delivered.  The  amount  of  this  advance 
is  governed  by  the  association  and  proportioned  accoiding 
to  "the  particular  quantity  of  each  grade  delivered  to  the 
association. 

The  association  has  full  jurisdiction  over  the  tobacco  after 
it  has  been  received  and  may  condition,  warehouse,  or  sell  it 
at  will.  A  certain  percentage  of  the  tobacco  as  a  iule  is 
sold  direct  to  dealers  and  manufacturers  from  the  loose-leaf 
receiving  floors  of  the  association.  The  remainder  oi  the 


442  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

tobacco  is  shipped  by  the  association  to  conditioning  plants, 
where  it  is  conditioned  and  packed  into  hogsheads  or  cases 
for  storage.  As  the  tobacco  is  packed  it  is  inspected,  re¬ 
graded,  sampled,  and  weighed  by  competent  and  reliable  per¬ 
sons,  many  of  whom  are  licensed  for  the  purpose  under  the 
United  States  warehouse  act.  It  is  then  delivered  to  public 
storage  houses,  many  of  which  are  also  licensed  under  the 
same  law. 

Prices  of  Tobacco. 

Under  the  systems  used  in  marketing  tobacco,  what  may 
be  called  a  wholesale  market  for  unmanufactured  tobacco 

PRICES  OF  LEADING  TYPES  OF  TOBACCO,  1909-1921. 

CENTS 


Fig.  23. — In  recent  years  the  bright  flue-cured  type  has  maintained  the  highest 
price  level  because  of  increased  demand  for  this  type  in  the  domestic  manu¬ 
facture  of  cigarettes  and  in  export  trade.  The  lowest  price  level  is  shown 
by  the  dark  fire-cured  and  air-cured  types,  the  greater  portion  of  which  is 
exported. 

has  not  been  developed  as  has  been  for  other  commodities. 
As  a  rule,  when  tobacco  is  sold  in  large  quantities  sale  is 
effected  through  private  methods,  and  limited  data  are  avail¬ 
able  as  to  prices  received.  The  only  prices  are  the  general 
prices  received  by  farmers.  These  are  based  as  a  rule  upon 
the  average  price  received  for  all  qualities  of  tobacco.  It 
has  not  been  practicable  to  compile  prices  by  grades,  owing 
to  the  absence  of  any  uniform  system  of  grading.  In  secur¬ 
ing  data  as  to  the  average  prices  by  types  it  has  been  neces¬ 
sary  to  follow  the  line  of  geographical  division  rather  than 
of  type  characteristics. 


443 


History  cmd  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 


In  the  graph  showing  tobacco  prices  by  principal  types 
(Fig.  23)  it  has  been  necessary  to  group  all  tobacco  into  four 
divisions:  First,  the  cigar  types  cover  wrapper,  binder,  and 
filler  tobacco  of  Wisconsin,  Ohio,  Georgia,  Florida,  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  New  York,  and  the  Connecticut  Valley,  on  which 
the  farm  prices  range  from  3  cents  to  $4  per  pound ;  second, 
the  Burley  type  covers  all  grades  of  Burley  tobacco  grown 
in  Indiana,  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee, 
on  which  the  price  ranges  from  14  cents  to  $1  per  pound; 


AVERAGE  PRICE  OF  TOBACCO,  UNITED  STATES,  1863-1921. 


Fig.  24— From  18(55  to  1879  there  was  a  fairly  steady  decline  in  average  farm 
price,  followed  by  a  somewhat  higher  price  level,  for  the  most  pait,  up  to 
the  outbreak  of  the  World  War.  The  abnormally  high  price  level  of  1919 
was  due  mainly  to  the  extraordinarily  high  price  of  the  bright  flue-cured 
type  for  that  year. 


third,  the  flue-cured  type  covers  the  “  old  belt  ”  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  and  the  “  new  belt  ”  of  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  on  which  the  price  of  the 
various  qualities  range  from  b|  cents  to  $1.25  per  pound , 
and,  fourth,  the  dark-fired  and  air-cured  types  cover  all 
grades  of  Maryland  and  eastern  Ohio  export,  Virginia  dark- 
fired  and  sun-cured,  dark-fired  types  of  Kentucky  and  Ten¬ 
nessee,  and  the  one-sucker  and  air-cured  types  of  Indiana, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  on  which  the  prices  range  from 

1  to  65  cents  per  pound. 

The  following  table  shows  the  average  farm  prices  for  all 
types  and  grades,  as  far  as  records  are  obtainable,  from  1618 

to  1853 : 


444  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

The  accompanying  graph  (Fig.  24)  shows  the  prices  from 
1863  to  1921.  The  World  War  caused  the  abnormally  high 
average  farm  price  of  39  cents  per  pound  in  the  year  1919, 
which  had  not  been  previously  equaled  with  the  exception 
of  the  English  Government  prices  of  1618,  1619,  and  1620. 
The  general  price  for  half  a  century,  from  1866  to  1915,  was 
8.5  cents  per  pound.  During  the  five  years  from  1917  to 
1921  the  general  average  price  was  26.4  cents  per  pound. 

Average  farm  price  of  tobacco  in  the  United  States  ( cents  per  pound). 


Year. 

Price. 

Year. 

Price. 

Year. 

Price. 

Year. 

Price. 

1618 . 

54.  75 

1684 . 

4. 12 

1730 . 

1.52 

1765 . 

2.03 

1619 . 

54. 75 

1688 . 

3. 08 

1735 . 

4.2 

1771 . 

4.56 

1620 . 

54.  75 

1695 . 

3.09 

1743 . 

3.04 

1780 . 

3. 04 

1639 . 

6. 08 

1697 . 

3.09 

1744 . 

4.06 

1790 . 

3.4 

1640 . 

6. 08 

1698 . 

3.62 

1762 . 

4.  56 

1847 . 

5.0 

1647 . 

6.  08 

1699 . 

3. 13 

1763 . 

4.56 

1849 . 

7.0 

1664 . 

3. 09 

1703 . 

2.03 

1764 . 

4.06 

1853 . 

10.0 

Financing  the  Marketing  of  Tobacco. 

Tobacco  is  not  suitable  for  manufacture  until  it  has  aged 
properly,  which  ordinarily  means  that  it  must  be  in  storage 
from  two  to  three  years.  In  recent  years  the  tendency  has 
been  to  shorten  the  aging  period  by  artificial  sweating  or  by 
using  a  larger  percentage  of  new  tobacco  in  the  blends, 
which  are  ordinarily  made  up  of  tobacco  1,  2,  and  3  years 
old.  In  the  manufacture  of  most  tobacco  products  the 
tobacco  jised  is,  on  an  average,  18  months  old.  This  makes 
it  necessary  for  the  trade  to  carry  large  stocks  of  tobacco  on 
hand.  The  burden  of  carrying  these  stocks  has  been,  for  the 
most  part,  placed  upon  the  dealers  and  manufacturers,  as 
the  farmer  usually  disposes  of  his  tobacco  as  soon  as  pos¬ 
sible  after  it  has  been  produced.  In  the  cigar-leaf  pro¬ 
ducing  States  and  in  Maryland  some  farmers  have  held 
their  tobacco  on  the  farms  or  in  public  storage  warehouses 
for  considerable  periods  awaiting  more  favorable  markets. 

When  tobacco  is  placed  in  a  warehouse  a  warehouse  re¬ 
ceipt  is  issued  therefor.  This  receipt  is  frequently  used  by 
the  depositor  as  collateral  for  a  loan.  Comparatively  few 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  445 

farmers  have  used  warehouse  receipts  because  of  the  quite 
general  practice  on  the  part  of  farmers  of  selling  their 
product  as  soon  as  possible  after  it  is  harvested.  The  manu¬ 
facturer  and  dealer,  on  the  other  hand,  are  quite  familiar 
with  the  use  of  these  receipts. 

With  the  development  in  the  past  two  years  in  cooperative 
tobacco  marketing  organizations,  the  use  of  the  warehouse 
receipt  on  the  part  of  those  who  control  the  tobacco  before 
it  passes  into  the  hands  of  dealers  and  manufacturers  has 


FEDERAL  BONDED  WAREHOUSE  FOR  STORING  TOBACCO. 


Fig.  25. — When  tobacco  is  placed  in  a  warehouse,  licensed  and  bonded  under 
the  United  States  warehouse  act,  a  negotiable  warehouse  receipt  of  pre¬ 
scribed  form  is  issued  therefor.  This  receipt  is  generally  acceptable  as 
collateral  for  loan  purposes. 

become  quite  general.  These  associations,  almost  without 
exception,  have  placed  their  tobacco  in  warehouses  licensed 
under  the  United  States  warehouse  act.  They  have  found 
receipts  issued  under  this  act  to  constitute  a  high  type  of 
collateral,  which  is  acceptable  to  the  War  b  inance  Corpora¬ 
tion  and  generally  acceptable  to  the  leading  banks  as  col 
lateral  for  loan  purposes.  The  value  of  these  receipts  is 
apparent  from  a  study  of  the  following  copy  of  the  fmm 

in  use; 


Form  T-6 _ _  TOBACCO 


446  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922 


< 

* 


HistoTy  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture . 


447 


Back  of  W.  A.  Form  T-6. 

STATEMENT  OF  OWNERSHIP  AND 
ENCUMBRANCES. 

Each  of  the  undersigned  hereby  certifies  on  the  date  stated  that 
he  is  the  owner  of  the  tobacco  covered  by  this  receipt  and  that,  other 
than  the  warehouseman’s  lien  evidenced  on  the  face  of  this  receipt 
and  the  following,  there  are  no  liens,  mortgages,  or  other  encum¬ 
brances  on  said  tobacco : 


_ ,  192— 

(Signed) - 


_ 192— 

(Signed) - 

INDORSEMENTS. 

Upon  demand,  deliver  the  tobacco  covered  by  this  receipt  to 
_ or  his  order. 

_ _ ,  192— 

( Signed ) - 

Upon  demand,  deliver  the  tobacco  covered  by  this  receipt  to 
_  or  his  order. 

_ _  192— 

(Signed) - 


Received  delivery  of  the  tobacco  covered  by  this  receipt. 

_ _  192— 

( Signed  - - — 


448  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

» 

In  Figure  26  are  shown  the  locations  of  United  States 
licensed  warehouses  and  the  points  at  which  are  functioning 
inspectors,  graders,  and  weighers  licensed  under  this  act  in 
connection  with  these  licensed  warehouses. 

Exports  and  Imports. 

Tobacco  was  the  first  article  of  export  of  the  colonies,  and 
20,000  pounds  were  sent  to  England  from  Jamestown  in 
1618.  Exports  had  reached  100,000,000  pounds  just  prior 


Fig.  26. — Licensed  storage  warehouses,  and  inspectors,  graders,  and  weighers 
are  now  (1922)  to  be  found  in  most  of  the  principal  tobacco- growing  sec¬ 
tions,  thus  affording  approved  facilities  for  placing  tobacco  in  storage  when 
growers  do  not  wish  to  immediately  sell  their  crop. 

to  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  by  1870  the  average  was  in 
excess  of  200,000,000  pounds.  In  the  last  three  decades  there 
has  been  a  fairly  uniform  increase  in  average  exports  of  leaf 
tobacco  from  250,000,000  pounds  in  1891  to  460,000,000 
pounds  for  the  10-year  period  ending  with  1921.  At  the 
close  of  the  World  War  exports  temporarily  Were  in  excess 
of  750,000,000  pounds.  Exports  of  manufactured  tobacco, 
though  considerable,  normally  aggregate  less  than  one-tenth 
of  the  leaf  exports,  the  principal  items  being  cigarettes,  plug, 
and  smoking  tobacco.  During  and  immediately  following 
the  World  War,  however,  exports  of  cigarettes  were  greatly 
increased,  the  maximum  of  about  48,000,000  pounds  having 
been  reached  in  1919.  The  United  Kingdom  is  much  the 


history  a/nd  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  449 

largest  purchaser  of  American  tobacco,  taking  more  than  a 
third  of  the  total  exports,  while  France,  Italy,  and  Germany 
each  take  about  10  per  cent,  the  Netherlands  about  6  per  cent, 
Spain  5  per  cent,  Australia  and  Canada  each  4  per  cent, 
Belgium  3  per  cent,  and  China  2  to  5  per  cent.  Exports  to 
China  have  increased  decidedly  in  recent  years. 

The  increase  in  exports  of  leaf  tobacco  have  not  kept 
pace  with  increased  production.  Originally  the  bulk  of 
the  crop  was  exported,  and  in  1790  over  75  per  cent  of  the 
total  went  abroad,  while  by  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
the  fraction  exported  was  two-thirds.  At  the  close  of  the 
century  exports  averaged  only  about  38  per  cent  of  the  pro¬ 
duction,  but  since  that  time  there  has  been  no  further 
permanent  decline  in  the  portion  of  the  crop  exported. 
Statistics  of  exports  by  types  are  not  available,  and  only 
estimates  can  be  made.  It  is  well  known  that  the  dark 
fire-cured  and  air-cured  types  and  the  bright  flue-cured 
furnish  the  bulk  of  leaf  exports.  The  quantity  of  cigar  leaf 
sent  abroad  is  relatively  unimportant,  and  perhaps  not  more 
than  10  to  15  per  cent  of  the  Burley  crop  is  exported.  It 
is  estimated  that  about  75  per  cent  of  the  combined  dark 
fire-cured  and  air-ci\red  types  goes  to  foreign  countries. 
Since  the  production  of  these  types  is  not  increasing  much, 
it  is  apparent  that  the  increased  exports  of  leaf  are  being 
derived  largely  from  the  bright  flue-cured  cigarette  type. 
This  indicates  a  foreign  as  well  as  a  domestic  increase  in 
demand  for  the  cigarette.  Available  information  indicates 
that  somewhat  more  than  half  the  production  of  flue-cured 
leaf  is  exported. 

Imports  of  leaf  tobacco  averaged  5,000,000  pounds  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
World  War  averaged  about  60,000,000  pounds,  or  somewhat 
more  than  14  per  cent  of  the  exports.  .Three  principal 
types  are  imported,  namely,  cigar-wrapper  leal  liom  Su¬ 
matra  and  Java,  cigar  filler  and  wrapper  from  Cuba,  and 
cigarette  tobaccos  from  Turkey  and  Greece.  Considerable 
quantities  of  leaf  have  been  imported  from  Cuba  for  a 
century,  and  Cuban  tobacco  largely  formed  the  basis  of  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  great  cigar-manufacturing  industry.  For 
the  period  1891-1895  imports  from  Cuba  averaged  20,000,000 


452  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 


graphically  the  distribution  of  leaf  in  the  manufacture  of 
cigars,  cigarettes,  and  tobacco  and  snuff.  The  figures  in¬ 
clude  most  of  the  imported  leaf,  which  constitutes  5  to  10 
per  cent  of  the  total  leaf  consumed  in  manufacture.  So  far 
as  concerns  comparison  with  production  on  the  basis  of  farm 
weight,  however,  these  imports  are  fully  offset  by  the  shrink¬ 
age  in  weight  which  tobacco  undergoes  during  the  aging 
process,  which  amounts  on  the  average  to  about  10  per  cent. 
With  an  average  total  consumption  of  leaf  amounting  to 
about  370,000,000  pounds  for  the  five-year  period  1897-1901, 
26  per  cent  of  this  total  was  used  for  the  manufacture  of 
cigars,  4  per  cent  for  cigarettes,  and  70  per  cent  for  tobacco 
and  snuff.  For  the  period  1907-1911  the  total  leaf  consumed 
averaged  507,000,000  pounds,  with  cigars  accounting  for  28 
per  cent,  cigarettes  5.2  per  cent,  and  snuff  and  tobacco  66.8 
per  cent.  For  the  five  years  ending  in  1921  the  total  leaf 
consumed  averaged  672,000,000  pounds,  of  which  25  per  cent 
was  used  for  cigars,  26.3  per  cent  for  cigarettes,  and  48.7 
per  cent  for  tobacco  and  snuff.  The  remarkable  increase  in 
quantity  of  leaf  used  for  manufacture  of  cigarettes,  as  well 
as  the  accelerating  rate  of  this  increase,  which  began  after 
a  period  of  decline  from  1897  to  1902,  are  seen  in  Figure  27. 


TREND  IN  CONSUMPTION  OF  LEAF  TOBACCO:  CIGARS, 
CIGARETTES,  TOBACCO,  AND  SNUFF,  1897-1921. 

POUNDS 
MILLIONS 

700 


CIGARS - 

TOBACCO  AND  SNUFF 
CIGARETTES - 


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Fig.  27. — Since  about  1908  there  has  been  an  exceedingly  rapid  increase  in 
the  quantity  of  tobacco  used  in  cigarette  manufacture.  The  manufacture  of 
cigars  shows  only  a  moderate  increase  in  recent  years,  while  the  quantity 
of  leaf  used  for  chewing  and  smoking  tobacco  and  snuff  shows  almost  no 
increase  in  the  past  20  years. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture . 


453 


This  enormous  expansion  in  the  manufacture  of  the  machine- 
made  cigarette  is  the  outstanding  feature  of  the  past  quarter 
of  a  century  in  the  tobacco  industry. 

The  returns  of  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  in¬ 
clude  under  the  general  head  of  “tobacco  and  snuff ,5  the 
forms  of  manufacture  known  as  plug,  twist,  fine  cut,  and 
smoking  tobacco,  in  addition  to  snuff.  It  is  significant  that 
the  production  of  plug,  used  principally  for  chewing,  which 
has  long  been  a  principal  form  of  manufacture,  reached  a 
maximum  of  nearly  186,000,000  pounds  as  early  as  189T,  and 
in  recent  years  has  shown  a  tendency  to  decline.  The  pro¬ 
duction  of  twist,  which  is  used  mainly  for  chewing,  is  not 
large,  the  maximum  production  of  17,000,000  pounds  having 
been  reached  in  1918.  Maximum  production  of  fine  cut, 
also  chiefly  used  for  chewing,  amounting  to  19,000,000 
pounds,  was  reached  in  1881  and  has  since  steadily  declined. 
Production  of  smoking  tobaccos,  extensively  used  for  rolling 
of  cigarettes  by  hand  as  well  as  for  pipe  smoking,  has  in¬ 
creased  from  85,000,000  pounds  in  189 7-  to  a  maximum  of 
258,000,000  pounds  in  1918,  although  the  increase  since  1910 
has  been  relatively  small.  Production  of  snuff  has  steadily 
increased  from  14,000,000  pounds  in  1897  to  a  maximum  of 
37,000,000  pounds  in  1918.  In  1890  the  production  cf  cigars 
first  exceeded  4  billions  in  number,  and  in  1901  6  billions 
were  produced.  The  7-billion  mark  was  reached  in  1906, 
but  since  that  date  there  has  been  little  increase  in  produc¬ 
tion,  except  that  in  the  single  year  1920  the  S-billion  mark 
was  temporarily  passed.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  however, 
that  the  average  size  or  weight  of  the  individual  cigar  has 
increased  considerably  in  recent  years.  In  the  above  figures 
the  relatively  unimportant  item  of  so-called  little  eigais  is 
not  included.  Production  of  cigarettes  first  exceeded  1 
billion  in  number  in  1885,  and  in  1895  more  than  4  billions 
were  manufactured,  of  which  a  half  billion  was  exported. 
In  1905  the  production  was  5J  billions,  of  which  two-  ir  s 
were  retained  for  domestic  consumption,  fn  1910  pio 
tion  had  increased  to  84  billions,  exclusive  of  manufactures 
in  bonded  warehouses  for  export.  In  1917  the  total  prot  no¬ 
tion  was  in  excess  of  44  billions,  including  manufactures  m 
bonded  warehouses,  of  which  37  billions  remained  at  home 


454  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

for  consumption.  In  1921  production  reached  the  enormous 
number  of  60  billions,  of  which  about  8£  billions  were  ex¬ 
ported.  In  brief,  the  use  of  tobacco  for  chewing  has  been 
giving  way  to  smoking,  the  first  evidence  of  which  could  be 
seen  in  increased  consumption  of  cigars  and  smoking  to¬ 
bacco,  while  more  recently  these  forms  of  smoking  are  giv¬ 
ing  place  to  the  machine-made  cigarette. 

Utilization  of  Tobacco  By-Products. 

The  stem  or  midrib  of  the  leaf  can  not  be  utilized  in  some 
classes  of  manufactured  tobacco,  and  in  the  aggregate  a  large 
surplus  of  stems  thus  accumulates,  of  which  only  a  small 
proportion  is  exported.  These  stems,  together  with  con¬ 
siderable  quantities  of  inferior  or  damaged  leaf  and  leaf 
scrap  and,  to  some  extent,  the  tobacco  stalks,  furnish  the 
sources  of  various  nicotine  preparations.  Nicotine  is  a  valu¬ 
able  insecticide  and  is  widely  used  for  control  of  certain 
insect  pests  of  plants.  It  is  also  extensively  used  in  dips  for 
control  of  mange  or  scab  on  sheep  and  cattle.  Stems  and 
other  tobacco  by-products,  with  or  without  previous  extrac¬ 
tion  of  the  nicotine,  are  used  in  large  quantities  as  fertilizer, 
their  value  for  this  purpose  depending  mainly  on  their  con¬ 
tent  of  nitrogen  and  potassium.  No  statistics  are  available 
as  to  quantities  of  tobacco  by-product  utilized  in  the  prep¬ 
aration  of  insecticides  or  as  fertilizer. 

International  Trade  in  Unmanufactured  Tobacco. 

A  large  portion  of  the  world’s  crop  of  tobacco  does  not 
enter  into  commerce,  being  consumed  by  the  producer  in  the 
unmanufactured  state.  On  the  other  hand,  to  meet  fully  the 
requirements  for  various  forms  of  manufacture,  including 
the  blending  of  mixtures  according  to  the  varying  tastes  of 
consumers,  countries  supplying  large  exports  may  also  find 
it  necessary  to  import  certain  foreign  types  of  leaf,  as  is  true 
of  the  United  States.  Some  of  the  large  consuming  coun¬ 
tries,  moreover,  produce  little  or  no  tobacco.  Including  those 
countries  for  which  statistics  are  available,  the  average 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  455 

yearly  exports  of  tobacco  in  the  world’s  trade  for  the  period 
1909  to  1913  amounted  to  929,000,000  pounds.  As  shown  in 
Figure  28,  the  United  States  is  much  the  largest  exporting 
country,  furnishing  41  per  cent  of  the  total.  The  Dutch 
East  Indies  contributed  nearly  18  per  cent,  Brazil  about  6.5 
per  cent,  Cuba  4  per  cent,  British  India  and  the  Philippine 
Islands  each  about  3  per  cent.  The  tobacco  exports  of 
Turkey  undoubtedly  were  important  for  this  period,  both  in 
quantity  and  quality  of  product,  and  while  full  statistics  are 
not  available  she  probably  ranked  along  with  Brazil  in 
quantity  of  leaf  supplied. 

INTERNATIONAL  TRADE  IN  UNMANUFACTURED  TOBACCO, 

YEARLY  AVERAGE,  1909-1913. 

POUNDS,  HUNDRED  MILLIONS 
0  I  2  3  4-5 

UNITED  STATES 
DUTCH  E.  INDIES 
GERMANY 
UNITED  K’DOM. 

AUST.  -  HUNGARY 
FRANCE 
BRAZIL 
SPAIN 
ITALY 
CUBA 

NETHERLANDS 


pIG.  28.— The  United  States  is  by  far  the  leading  country  in  exports  but  also 
imports  considerable  quantities  of  leaf  tobacco.  The  Dutch  East  Indies  x-ank 
second  in  volume  of  exports.  Germany  and  the  United  Kingdom  lead  in 

imports. 

Of  the  total  imports  in  world  trade  for  the  same  period, 
amounting  to  844,000,000  pounds,  Germany  received  20  per 
cent,  the  United  Kingdom  14  per  cent,  France  7.5  per  cent, 
Netherlands  7  per  cent,  the  United  States,  Spain,  and 
Austria-Hungary  each  about  6  per  cent,  Italy  5.5  per  cent, 
and  Belgium  2.5  per  cent. 


IMPORTS 


V////7A  EXPORTS 


456  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 
Import  Duties  and  Internal  Revenue  Taxes  on  Tobacco. 

Import  Levies. 

Import  duties  have  been  levied  on  tobacco,  both  in  manu¬ 
factured  and  unmanufactured  form,  almost  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  Federal  Government.  In  earlier  years  the  rates 
were  comparatively  low,  but  they  were  greatly  increased 
during  the  Civil  War  period.  Since  that  time  the  chief  in¬ 
creases  in  rates  have  been  in  leaf  tobacco.  Cigars  as  such 
were  first  included  in  the  act  of  March  27, 1804,  while  “  paper 
cigars”  were  first  listed  in  the  act  of  July  30,  1846,  and  cig¬ 
arettes  in  the  act  of  July  14,  1862.  In  the  latter  act  a  dis¬ 
tinction  is  first  made  between  stemmed  and  unstemmed  leaf, 
and  in  the  act  of  March  3,  1883,  a  distinction  is  drawn  be¬ 
tween  wrapper  and  filler  grades  of  cigar  leaf.  The  annual 
revenue  accruing  to  the  Government  from  tobacco  imports 
averaged  for  the  period  1868-1872  somewhat  less  than 
$4,000,000,  for  the  period  1888-1892  over  $12,000,000,  and  for 
the  period  1908-1912  approximately  $24,000,000.  The  aggre¬ 
gate  revenue  from  this  source  for  the  50-year  period  1872- 
1921  was  more  than  $800,000,000. 

The  following  digest  embraces  a  list  of  tariff  acts  relating 
to  tobacco,  with  rates  of  duty,  from  1789  to  date : 

Rates  of  duly  on  tobacco  imports  under  the  Constitution. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 


Rates  of  duty. 


July  4, 1789  (Aug.  1, 
1789). 

Aug.  10,  1790  (Jan. 
1, 1791). 

May  2, 1792  (July  1, 
1792). 

June  5, 1794  (Oct.  1, 
1794). 

June  7, 1794  (July  1, 
1794). 

May  13, 1800  (July  1, 
1800). 

Mar.  26, 1804  (July  1, 
1804). 


Snuff,  10  cents  per  pound;  manufactured  tobacco,  6  cents  per  pound; 
unmanufactured  tobacco,  5  per  cent. 

Snuff,  10  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured,  5  per  cent;  manufactured, 
6  cents  per  pound. 

Unmanufactured,  1\  per  cent;  other  tobacco  duties  remain. 

Snuff,  22  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured  remains  per  cent;  manu¬ 
factured,  10  cents  per  pound. 

Snuff  remains  22  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured,  10  per  cent;  manu¬ 
factured  remains  10  cents  per  pound. 

Snuff  remains  22  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured,  12§  per  cent;  manu¬ 
factured  remains  10  cents  per  pound. 

Snuff  remains  22  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured,  15  per  cent;  manu¬ 
factured  remains  10  cents  per  pound. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  457 
Hates  of  duty  on  tobacco  imports  under  the  Constitution — Continued. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 


Rates  of  duty. 


Mar.  27,  1804  (July 
1, 1804). 

July  1, 1812  (July  1, 
1812). 

Apr.  27,  1816  (July 
1, 1816). 

Mar.  2,  1833  (Jan.  1, 
1834). 

Sept.  11,  1841  (Oct. 
1, 1841). 

Aug.  30,  1842  (Aug. 
31,  1842). 

July  30, 1846  (Dec.  2, 
1846). 

Mar.  3, 1857  (July  1, 
1857). 

Mar.  2, 1861  (Apr.  2, 
1861). 


July  14,  1862  (Aug. 
2,  1862). 


Apr.  29,  1864  (Apr. 
29,  1864). 

June  30,  1864  (July 
1,  1864). 


Mar.  3, 1865  (Apr.  1, 
1865). 

July  28,  1866  (Aug. 
11, 1866). 

Mar.  3, 1883  (July  1, 
1883). 


Cigars,  $2  per  1,000;  other  existing  rates  remain. 

Existing  rates  doubled  until  one  year  after  the  war. 

Snuff,  12  cents  per  pound;  cigars,  $2.50  per  1,000;  other  manufactured, 
10  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured,  15  per  cent. 

Existing  rates  in  excess  of  20  per  cent  to  be  reduced  to  20  per  cent  by 
yearly  reductions  to  July  1,  1842. 

Unmanufactured,  20  per  cent;  other  rates  remain. 

Snuff,  12  cents  per  pound;  cigars,  40  cents  per  pound:  other  manufac¬ 
tured,  10  cents  per  pound;  unmanufactured,  20  per  cent. 

Snuff,  40  per  cent;  cigars  and  paper  cigars,  40  per  cent;  other  manufac¬ 
tured,  40  per  cent;  unmanufactured,  30  per  cent. 

Manufactured,  30  per  cent;  unmanufactured,  24  per  cent. 

Snuff,  10  cents  per  pound.  Cigars:  Value  of  $5  or  less  per  1,000, 20  cents 
per  pound;  value  over  $5  to  $10  per  1,000,  40  cents  per  pound;  value 
over  $10  per  1,000, 60  cents  per  pound  and  10  per  cent;  unmanufactured 
in  leaf,  25  per  cent;  other  manufactured  and  other  unmanufactured 
30  per  cent. 

Snuff,  35  cents  per  pound.  Cigars  and  cigarettes:  Value  of  $5  or  less 
per  1,000,  35  cents  per  pound;  value  over  $5  to  $10  per  1,000, 60  cents 
per  pound;  value  over  $10  to  $20  per  1,000,  80  cents  per  pound  and  10 
per  cent;  value  over  $20  per  1,000,  $1  per  pound  and  10  per  cent.  Un¬ 
manufactured  in  leaf  and  unstemmed,  25  cents  per  pound;  stemmed, 
35  cents  per  pound;  other  manufactured,  35  cents  per  pound. 

Existing  rates  increased  50  per  cent  for  60  days. 

Snuff  and  snuff  flour,  50  cents  per  pound.  Cigars  and  cigarettes:  Value 
of  $15  or  less  per  1,000,  75  cents  per  pound  and  20  per  cent;  value  over 
$15  to  $30  per  1,000,  $1.25  per  pound  and  30  per  cent;  value  over  $30  to 
$45  per  1,000,  $2  per  pound  and  50  per  cent;  value  over  $45  per  1,000, 
$3  per  pound  and  60  per  cent.  Unmanufactured,  in  leaf  and  un¬ 
stemmed,  35  cents  per  pound;  stemmed,  50  cents  per  pound;  other 
manufactured,  50  cents  per  pound. 

Stems,  15  cents  per  pound. 

Cigars,  cigarettes,  and  cheroots,  $3  per  pound  and  50  per  cent. 

Snuff  and  snuff  flour,  50  cents  per  pound;  cigars,  cigarettes,  and 
cheroots,  $2.50  per  pound  and  25  per  cent.  Unmanufactured,  in  leaf 
and  unstemmed  85  per  cent  suitable  for  cigar  wrappers,  and  more 
than  100  leaves  in  pound,  75  cents  per  pound;  stemmed,  $1  per  pound. 
Other  leaf,  unstemmed,  35  cents  per  pound;  stemmed,  40  cents  per 
pound.  Other  unmanufactured,  30  per  cent;  stems,  15  cents  per 
pound;  other  manufactured,  40  cents  per  pound. 


458  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

Rates  of  duty  on  tobacco  imports  under  the  Constitution — Continued. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 


Oct.  1, 1890  (Oct.  6, 
1890). 


Aug.  27,  1894  (Aug. 
1, 1894). 


July  24,  1897  (July 
24, 1897). 


Apr.  12,  1900  (Apr. 
12, 1900). 

July  25,  1901 . 

Mar.  8, 1902  (Mar.  8, 
1902). 

Dec.  17,  1903  (Dec. 
27, 1903). 

Aug.  5, 1909  (Aug.  6, 
1909). 


Oct.  3, 1913  (Oct.  4, 
1913). 

May  27,  1921  (May 
28, 1921). 


Rates  of  duty. 


Snuff  and  snuff  flour,  50  cents  per  pound;  cigars,  cigarettes,  and 
cheroots,  $4.50  per  pound  and  25  per  cent.  Unmanufactured,  in  leaf 
for  cigar  wrappers— unstemmed,  $2  per  pound;  stemmed,  $2.75  per 
pound.  Other  leaf— unstemmed,  35  cents  per  pound;  stemmed,  50 
cents  per  pound.  Stems,  free.  Other  manufactured,  40  cents  per 
pound. 

Snuff  and  snuff  flour,  50  cents  per  pound;  cigars,  cigarettes,  and  cheroots, 
$4  per  pound  and  25  per  cent.  Wrapper,  unstemmed,  $1.50  per 
pound;  stemmed,  $2.25  per  pound.  Filler,  unstemmed,  35  cents  per 
pound;  stemmed,  50  cents  per  pound.  Stems,  free.  Other  unmanu¬ 
factured  and  manufactured,  40  cents  per  pound. 

Snuff  and  snuff  flour,  55  cents  per  pound;  cigars,  cigarettes,  and  che¬ 
roots,  $4.50  per  pound  and  25  per  cent.  Wrapper,  and  filler  when 
mixed  or  packed  with  more  than  15  per  cent  of  wrapper,  and  all  leaf 
the  product  of  two  or  more  countries  when  mixed  or  packed  together, 
unstemmed,  $1.85  per  pound;  stemmed,  $2.50  per  pound.  Other 
filler,  unstemmed,  35  cents  per  pound;  stemmed,  50  cents  per  pound. 
Stems,  free.  Other  unmanufactured  and  manufactured,  55  cents  per 
pound. 

Shipments  from  Porto  Rico  to  United  States,  15  per  cent  of  existing 
rates  +  internal-revenue  tax. 

Shipments  from  Porto  Rico/to  United  States,  free.  (Proclamation  by 
President.) 

Imports  from  Philippine  Islands  of  articles  grown  and  produced  there, 
75  per  cent  of  existing  rates  +  internal-revenue  tax.  (Ceased  Aug. 
6,  1909.) 

Imports  from  Cuba  of  products  of  soil  or  industry  of  that  country,  20  per 
cent  below  existing  rates.  Not  subsequently  repealed. 

Rates  of  July  24, 1897:  Scrap,  55  cents  per  pound.  These  are  the  rates 
of  the  minimum  tariff.  The  maximum  tariff  is  25  per  cent  higher 
and  is  to  be  in  force  to  Mar.  31, 1910,  and  thereafter  unless  President 
by  proclamation  declares  no  discrimination  by  particular  countries. 
These  rates  apply  to  Philippine  Islands ;  imports  exceeding  300,000 
pounds  of  wrapper  and  filler  mixed  or  packed  with  more  than  15 
per  cent  of  wrapper;  exceeding  1,000,000  pounds  of  filler;  and  ex¬ 
ceeding  150,000,000  cigars.  Internal  revenue  to  be  paid. 

Rates  of  July  24, 1897,  except  scrap,  35  cents  per  pound.  All  articles  the 
growth  or  product  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  free. 

Wrapper,  and  filler  when  mixed  or  packed  with  more  than  15  per  cent 
of  wrapper,  and  all  tobacco  the  product  of  two  or  more  countries  when 
mixed  or  packed  together,  unstemmed,  $2.35  per  pound;  stemmed,  $3 
per  pound.  Other  filler  (all  other  leaf),  unstemmed,  35  cents  per 
pound;  stemmed,  50  cents  per  pound.  Other  existing  rates  not 
changed. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture.  459 
Rates  of  duty  on  tobacco  imports  under  the  Constitution — Continued. 


D  ate  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 

0 

Rates  of  duty. 

Sept.  21, 1922  (Sept. 
22, 1922). 

Snuff  andsnuff  flour,  55  cents  perpound;  cigars,  cigarettes,  and  cheroots, 
$4.50  per  pound  and  25  per  cent.  Wrapper,  and  filler  when  mixed  or 
packed  with  more  than  35  per  cent  of  wrapper,  and  leaf  the  product  of 
two  or  more  countries  when  mixed  or  packed  together,  unstemmed, 
$2.10per  pound;  stemmed,  $2.75  per  pound.  Other  filler,  unstemmed, 
35  cents  per  pound;  stemmed,  50  cents  per  pound.  Scrap,  35  cents  per 
pound;  stems,  free;  other  unmanufactured  and  manufactured,  55 
cents  per  pound.  From  Philippine  Islands,  if  grown  or  produced 
there,  free+United  States  internal  revenue  tax.  All  rates  subject  to 
change  by  the  President  after  investigation  of  cost  of  production, 
domestic  and  foreign. 

Internal  Revenue  Taxes. 


Internal-revenue  taxation  of  tobacco  as  a  more  or  less 
fixed  policy  began  during  the  Civil  War.  As  a  whole  the 
rates  of  taxation  reached  a  maximum  during  the  later  years 
of  that  war,  while  relatively  high  rate  levels  also  came  into 
effect  in  1875  and  again  following  the  World  War.  At  the 
outset  a  sliding  scale  of  rates,  according  to  value  of  the 
product,  was  applied  to  cigars,  while  for  smoking  and  chew¬ 
ing  tobaccos  there  was  also  a  sliding  scale  based  on  value 
of  product;  but,  in  addition,  rate  differences  based  on  char¬ 
acter  of  raw  material  used  in  manufacture  were  applied. 
After  a  long  period  of  flat  rates,  which  began  in  1867,  the 
principle  of  a  sliding  scale  according  to  value  was  revived 
for  large  cigars  in  1917.  On  the  other  hand,  flat  rates  have 
been  applied  to  smoking  and  chewing  tobaccos  since  1872,  and 
since  1898  snuff  has  been  classed  with  these  tobaccos.  With 
the  exception  of  the  act  of  1901,  flat  rates  have  been  applied 
to  cigarettes  since  1867,  so  far  as  concerns  value,  but  since 
1868  there  has  been  a  difference  in  rates  as  between  cigar¬ 
ettes  weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000  and  those 
weighing  more  than  3  pounds.  The  same  distinction  as  to 
weight  was  first  applied  to  cigars  in  1897. 


460  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

The  amount  of  revenue  derived  from  internal-revenue 
taxes  in  1863  was  somewhat  more  than  $3,000,000,  while  10 
years  later  the  amount  was  more  than  $34,000,000.  In  1902 
the  revenue  amounted  to  nearly  $52,000,000,  in  1917  over 
$103,000,000,  and  in  1920  approximately  $294,000,000.  The 
total  revenue  derived  from  these  taxes  from  1862  to  1921, 
inclusive,  a  period  of  60  years,  was  considerably  over  $3,000,- 
000,000. 

The  following  summary,  based  on  compilations  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  United  States  Treasury 
Department,  shows  the  rates  of  taxation  on  cigars  and 
cigarettes  as  fixed  in  internal  revenue  acts  from  1862  to  date. 
Only  half  of  the  increase  in  rates  provided  in  the  act  of 
October  3, 1917,  were  applicable  during  the  first  month  of  its 
operation. 

Date  of  internal  revenue  acts  imposing  tax  on  cigars  and  cigarettes 

and  rates  of  tax. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 

Product. 

Rate 
of  tax. 

Length 
of  time 
in  effect 

July  1,  1862  (Sept. 

Cigars,  valued  at  not  over  $5  per  1,000 . 

Per 

1,000. 

$1.50 

Months. 

22 

1,  1862). 

Valued  at  over  $5  and  not  over  $10  per  1,000 . 

2.00 

22 

Valued  at  over  $10  and  not  over  $20  per  1,000 . 

2. 50 

22 

Valued  at  over  $20  per  1,000 . . . 

3. 50 

22 

June  30,  1864  (June 

Cheroots  valued  at  not  over  $5  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

9 

30,  1864). 

Cigars  valued  at  not  over  $5  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

9 

Valued  at  over  $5  and  not  over  $15  per  1,000 . 

8.00 

9 

Valued  at  over  $15  and  not  over  $30  per  1,000 . 

15.00 

9 

Valued  at  over  $30  and  not  over  $45  per  1,000 . 

25.00 

9 

Valued  at  over  $45  per  1,000 . 

40.00 

9 

Cigarettes  valued  at  not  over  $6  per  100  packages  of  25 

1 1.00 

9 

each. 

Valued  at  over  $6  per  100  packages  of  25  each . 

13.00 

9 

Cigarettes  made  wholly  of  tobacco . 

3.00 

9 

Mar.  3, 1865  (Apr.  1, 

Cigars  and  cheroots  made  wholly  of  tobacco  or  of  any 

10.00 

16 

1865). 

substitutes  therefor. 

Cigarettes  valued  at  not  over  $5  per  100  packages  of  25 

*.05 

16 

each. 

Valued  at  over  $5  per  100  packages  of  25  each . 

*.05 

16 

Cigarettes  made  wholly  of  tobacco  or  of  any  substi- 

10.00 

16 

tutes  therefor. 

Per  100  packages. 


*Per  package. 


*  Per  cent. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  461 


Date  of  internal  revenue  acts  imposing  tax  on  cigars  and  cigarettes 

and  rates  of  tax — Continued. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 

Product. 

Rate 
of  tax. 

Length 
of  time 
m  effect. 

Per 

1,000. 

Months. 

July  13,  1866  (Aug. 

Cigars,  cigarettes,  and  cheroots  valued  at  $8  per  1,000 

$2.00 

7 

1,  1866). 

or  less. 

Valued  at  over  $8  and  not  over  $12 . 

4.00 

7 

Valued  at  over  $12  per  1,000 . 

<4.00 

7 

Mar.  2,  1867 . 

Cigars,  cigarettes,  and  cheroots  of  all  descriptions. . . . 

5.00 

17 

July  20,  1868  (July 

Cigars  and  cheroots  of  all  descriptions . 

5.00 

79 

20, 1868). 

Cigarettes  weighing  not  over  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.50 

79 

Weighing  over  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

5.00 

79 

Mar.  3, 1875  (Mar.  3, 

Cigars  and  cheroots  of  all  descriptions . . 

6. 00 

98 

1875). 

Cigarettes  weighing  not  over  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.75 

98 

Weighing  over  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

6.00 

98 

Mar.  3, 1883  (May  1, 

Cigars  and  cheroots  of  all  descriptions . . . 

3.00 

183 

1883). 

Cigarettes  weighing  not  over  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

.50 

172 

Weighing  over  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

183 

July  24,  1897  (Aug. 

Cigars  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

10 

15, 1897). 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.00 

47 

Cigarettes  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3. 00 

10 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.00 

10 

June  13,  1898  (June 

Cigars  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3. 60 

37 

14,1898). 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.00 

37 

Cigarettes  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3.60 

49 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.50 

37 

Mar.  2, 1901  (July  1, 

Cigars  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

1901). 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

.54 

108 

Apr.  12,  1902  (July 

Cigarettes  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

96 

1, 1902). 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000  of 

wholesale  value  or  price  of— 

Mar.  2, 1901  (Julyl, 

Not  over  $2  per  1,000 . 

.54 

108 

1901). 

More  than  $2  per  1,000 . 

1.08 

108 

Aug.  5, 1909  (July  1, 

Cigars  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3.00 

87 

1910). 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

.75 

87 

Cigarettes  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

3. 60 

87 

Weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 . 

1.25 

87 

Oct.  3, 1917  (Oct.  4, 

Classes  A-D,  cigars,  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per 

1917). 

1,000,  if  manufactured  or  imported  to  retail  at: 

(A)  Less  than  4  cents  each . 

3.00 

16 

(B)  4  cents  or  more  and  not  over  7  cents  each . .  -  - 

4.00 

16 

(C)  More  than  7  cents  and  not  over  15  cents  each. . 

6.00 

16 

(D)  More  than  15  cents  and  not  over  20  cents  each. 

8. 00 

16 

Class  E,  cigars,  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per 

10.00 

16 

1,000,  if  manufactured  or  imported  to  retail  at  over 

20  cents  each. 

Cigars  weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000. 

1.00 

16 

Cigarettes  weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per 

2.05 

16 

1,000. 

Cigarettes  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000 

1  4.80 

1  16 

« And  20  per  cent. 


462  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

Date  of  internal  revenue  acts  imposing  tax  on  cigars  and  cigarettes 

and  rates  of  tax — Continued. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 

Product. 

Rate 
of  tax. 

Length 
of  time 
ineffect. 

Per 

1,000. 

Months. 

Feb.  24,  1919  (Feb. 

Classes  A-D,  cigars,  weighing  more  than  3  pounds 

25,1919). 

per  1,000,  if  manufactured  or  imported  to  retail  at: 

(A)  Not  more  than  5  cents  each . 

$4.00 

33 

(B)  More  than  5  cents  and  not  more  than  8  cents 

6.00 

33 

each. 

(C)  More  than  8  cents  and  not  more  than  15  cents 

9.00 

33 

each. 

(D)  More  than  15  cents  and  not  more  than  20 

12.00 

33 

cents  each. 

Feb.  24,  1919  (Feb. 

Class  E  cigars,  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per 

15.00 

33 

25, 1919). 

1,000,  if  manufactured  or  imported  to  retail  at 
over  20  cents  each. 

Cigars  weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000. 

1.50 

33 

Cigarettes  weighing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per 

3.00 

33 

1,000. 

Cigarettes  weighing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000. 

7.20 

33 

Nov.  23, 1921  (Nov. 

Cigars,  made  of  tobacco  or  any  substitute,  weighing 

23, 1921). 

more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000,  if  manufactured  or 
imported  to  retail  at: 

(A)  Not  more  than  5  cents  each . 

4.00 

(B)  More  than  5  cents  and  not  more  than  8  cents 
each. 

6.00 

(C)  More  than  8  cents  and  not  more  than  15  cents 
each. 

9.  00 

(D)  More  than  15  cents  and  not  more  than  20 
cents  each. 

12.00 

(E)  More  than  20  cents  each . 

15.00 

Cigars,  made  of  tobacco  or  any  substitute,  weighing 

not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000. 

Cigarettes,  made  of  tobacco  or  any  substitute,  weigh¬ 
ing  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000. 

1.50 

7. 20 

Cigarettes,  made  of  tobacco  or  any  substitute,  weigh¬ 
ing  not  more  than  3  pounds  per  1,000. 

3.00 

History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture .  463 

In  the  following  summary,  based  on  compilations  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  are  shown  the  rates  of 
taxation  applying  to  smoking  and  chewing  tobaccos  and 
snuff,  as  fixed  in  internal  revenue  acts  from  1862  to  date. 
Only  one-half  of  the  increase  in  rates  provided  in  the  act 
of  October  3,  1917,  was  applicable  during  the  first  month  of 
its  operation. 

Dates  of  internal  revenue  acts  imposing  tax  on  chewing  and  pipe¬ 
smoking  tobaccos  and  snuff,  and  rates  of  tax. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 

1 

Form  of  manufacture. 

Rate  of 
tax  per 
pound. 

Length 
of  time 
in 

effect. 

Cents. 

Months. 

July  1, 1862  (July  l, 

Smoking,  made  exclusively  of  stems . 

2 

1862). 

Smoking,  prepared  with  all  the  stems  in . 

5 

22 

Cavendish,  plug,  twist,  fine  cut,  valued  at  not  over 

10 

6 

30  cents  per  pound. 

Cavendish,  plug,  twist,  fine  cut,  valued  at  over  30 

15 

6 

cents  per  pound. 

Snuff . . . 

20 

22 

Mar.  3, 1863  (Mar.  3, 

Smoking,  made  exclusively  of  stems . 

5 

1 

1863). 

Cavendish,  plug,  twist,  fine  cut,  and  manufactured 

15 

16 

tobacco  of  all  descriptions,  except  smoking  tobacco. 

June  30,  1864  (June 

Smoking,  made  exclusively  of  stems . 

15 

25 

30,  1864). 

Smoking,  prepared  with  all  the  stems  in,  and  fine- 

25 

9 

cut  shorts. 

Cavendish,  plug,  twist,  etc.,  and  fine-cut  chewing — 

35 

9 

Snuff  . - . . 

35 

9 

Mar.  3, 1865  (Apr.  1, 

Twisted  by  hand . 

30 

16 

1865). 

Smoking,  of  all  kinds,  not  otherwise  provided  for . . . . 

35 

16 

Cavendish,  plug,  twist,  etc.,  and  fine-cut  chewing — 

40 

16 

40 

40 

July  13,  1866  (Aug. 

Smoking,  not  sweetened,  stemmed,  or  butted . 

15 

24 

1,  1866). 

Twisted  by  hand,  etc.,  and  fine-cut  shorts . 

30 

24 

Smoking,  sweetened,  stemmed,  or  butted . 

40 

24 

40 

24 

July  20,  1868  (July 

Chewing,  etc.,  smoking,  etc.,  part  of  the  stems  removed 

32 

47 

20,  1868). 

Smoking,  exclusively  of  stems,  etc . 

16 

47 

32 

129 

Jun«6, 1872  (July  1, 

All  kinds,  except  snuff,  cigars,  cheroots,  and  cigarettes. 

20 

32 

1872). 

24 

50 

•  Oj  1o7«j  (Mar.  J; 

1875. 

Mar.'l,  1879  (May  1, 

All  kinds,  except  snuff,  cigars,  cheroots,  and  cigarettes. 

16 

48 

1879). 

464  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 


Dates  of  internal  revenue  acts  imposing  tax  on  chewing  and  pipe-smoking 
tobaccos  and  snuff,  and  rates  of  tax — Continued. 


Date  of  act  (and 
when  effective). 

Form  of  manufacture. 

Rate  of 
tax  per 
pound. 

Length 
of  time 
in 

effect. 

Mar.  3, 1883  (May  1, 

All  kinds,  except  snuff,  cigars,  cheroots,  and  cigarettes. 

Cents. 

8 

Months. 

91 

1883). 

Oct.  1, 1890  (Jan.  1, 

Smoking  and  manufactured  tobacco  and  snuff . 

6 

90 

1891). 

June  13,  1898  (June 

Manufactured  tobacco  and  snuff . 

12 

49 

14, 1898). 

Apr.  12,  1902  (July 
1,  1902). 

Aug.  5, 1909  (July  1, 
1910). 

Oct.  3, 1917  (Nov.  2, 
1917). 

Feb.  24,1919  (Feb. 
25,  1919). 

Nov.  23,  1921  (Nov. 
23,  1921). 

. do . 

6 

96 

. do . 

8 

86 

. do . 

13 

15 

. do . 

18 

33 

. do . 

18 

Summary  and  Outlook. 

Concomitant  with  the  comparatively  steady  expansion  in 
acreage  and  production  of  tobacco  during  and  since  colonial 
days  the  industry  has  undergone  a  high  degree  of  specializa¬ 
tion.  Primarily  as  a  result  of  the  exacting  requirements  as 
to  soil  and  climate  for  producing  the  particular  kinds  of 
tobacco  needed  for  various  purposes  of  manufacture  and  ex¬ 
port,  tobacco  culture  has  become  sharply  localized.  Each 
producing  section  supplies  a  definite  type  peculiarly  suited 
for  specific  trade  purposes.  Other  sections  formerly  grow¬ 
ing  tobacco  but  having  soil  and  climatic  conditions  less 
favorable  for  producing  the  types  now  in  demand  have  been 
forced  to  abandon  the  crop.  These  distinctive  types  are  in 
large  measure  noncompetitive,  so  that  important  economic 
changes  or  tendencies  may  have  very  different  effects  on  the 
various  centers  of  production. 


History  and  Status  of  Tobacco  Culture. 

The  Tobacco  Crop  as  a  Whole. 


465 


Considering  the  tobacco  crop  as  a  whole  there  has  been 
marked  and  almost  continuous  increase  in  production  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  40  years.  The  rate  of  increase  has  more  than 
kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  population.  Under  a  well- 
balanced  system  of  diversified  farming,  including  winter 
feeding  of  steers,  the  yield  per  acre  of  tobacco  shows  an 
upward  tendency.  Under  a  highly  intensive  one-crop  sys¬ 
tem,  heavy  fertilizing  and  manuring  is  apparently  failing 
to  maintain  yields  at  the  high  levels  which  were  first  estab¬ 
lished.  With  an  extensive  system  on  rather  poor  soils,  in 
which  cropping  to  tobacco  alternates  with  a  period  of  “  rest¬ 
ing”  the  land,  the  yield  is  being  maintained,  though  at  a 
relatively  low  level.  Under  these  circumstances  the  level  of 
yields  has  been  considerably  raised  by  use  of  commercial 
fertilizers.  Imports  of  tobacco  are  considerable  and  have 
increased  decidedly  in  recent  years,  though  in  the  aggregate 
they  amount  to  hardly  more  than  10  per  cent  of  exports.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  leaf  tobacco  imported  is  used  for 
blending  purposes  and  therefore  does  not  come  into  compe¬ 
tition  with  domestic  leaf.  Net  exports  of  tobacco,  though 
large  and  increasing,  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  increase 
in  production.  Serious  effort  is  being  made  in  various  parts 
of  the  world  to  produce  tobaccos  similar  to  those  exported 
from  this  country,  but  it  remains  to  be  seen  what  success 
will  follow  these  endeavors.  Domestic  consumption  of  to¬ 
bacco  has  been  increasing  steadily  for  many  years,  and  even 
on  a  per  capita  basis  this  increase  has  been  considerable. 
The  tobacco  industry  reacted  sharply  to  conditions  created 
by  the  World  War.  Abnormally  high  prices  resulting  from 
greatly  increased  foreign  and  domestic  demand  stimulated 
heavy  production  which  culminated  in  a  crop  of  more  than 
li  billion  pounds  in  1920.  The  precipitate  drop  in  prices 
in  that  year  for  a  crop  grown  at  heavy  cost  resulted  in 
serious  losses.  Largely  as  a  consequence  of  these  conditions 
production  in  1921  virtually  receded  to  the  prewar  level  of 


466  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

1  billion  pounds.  The  average  farm  price  for  the  1921  crop 
was  about  89  per  cent  above  prewar  figures. 

Relative  Position  of  the  Distinctive  Types  of  Tobacco. 

With  respect  to  the  several  distinctive  types  of  tobacco, 
significant  changes  have  taken  place  both  at  home  and 
abroad  in  popularity  of  the  different  forms  in  which  tobacco 
is  consumed.  These  changes  necessarily  affect  the  relative 
demand  of  the  different  types  of  leaf.  Maximum  produc¬ 
tion  of  chewing  tobaccos  was  virtually  reached  as  early  as 
1897.  On  the  other  hand,  production  of  pipe-smoking  to¬ 
baccos  increased  rapidly  until  about  1910,  while  the  subse¬ 
quent  rate  of  increase  has  been  much  slower.  Manufacture 
of  cigars  increased  rapidly  until  about  1906,  but  since  that 
time  the  rate  of  increase  has  fallen  off.  Beginning  about 
1910  the  production  of  machine-made  cigarettes  began  to  in¬ 
crease  with  remarkable  rapidity,  and  this  rate  of  increase 
has  been  steadily  maintained.  It  is  apparent  that  chewing 
is  less  popular  than  formerly  and  is  giving  way  to  smoking, 
and  the  cigarette  is  now  becoming  the  favorite  smoke.  In 
line  with  these  facts  there  has  been  a  very  large  increase  in 
production  of  the  bright  flue-cured  tobacco,  which  is  the 
leading  cigarette  and  granulated  pipe-smoking  type,  with 
an  upward  trend  in  price.  There  has  been,  moreover,  an 
increasing  foreign  demand  for  this  type,  thus  placing  it  in 
a  relatively  strong  position.  Flue-cured  tobacco  has  long 
occupied  an  important  position  in  the  manufacture  of  plug, 
but  any  loss  in  demand  in  this  direction  has  been  more  than 
offset  by  the  gain  in  domestic  and  foreign  demand  for  smok¬ 
ing  purposes.  Burley,  which  has  been  the  leading  type  of 
leaf  for  the  manufacture  of  plug,  also  has  recently  come  into 
great  demand  for  cigarette  and  smoking  grades  of  leaf,  the 
net  result  being  a  moderate  increase  in  total  demand  for  this 
type.  The  dark  fire-cured  and  air-cured  tobaccos  have  al¬ 
ways  been  mainly  export  types,  domestic  use  being  confined 
mostly  to  the  production  of  chewing  tobacco  and  snuff.  For¬ 
eign  markets  are  indicating  more  and  more  a  preference  for 
the  light  colored  cigarette  types  of  leaf,  at  least  so  far  as 
concerns  increased  purchases  in  this  country.  As  would  be 


467 


Histovy  avid  Status  of  T obacco  Cultuve. 

expected  from  these  facts,  there  has  been  no  notable  perma¬ 
nent  increase  in  production  of  the  dark  types  in  recent  years. 
Cigar  leaf  is  largely  restricted  to  a  single  domestic  use,  and 
production  has  shown  but  little  increase  in  the  past  decade, 
thus  further  indicating  a  slowing  down  of  the  increase  in 
consumption  of  cigars. 

Tobacco  Culture  in  New  Territory. 

The  question  is  frequently  raised  whether  tobacco  could 
be  grown  with  profit  in  sections  where  it  is  not  at  present 
a  commercial  crop.  In  the  search  for  new  crops  in  various 
regions  it  is  natural  that  attention  should  be  directed  toward 
tobacco  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  cash  crop  of  high 
acre  value.  For  the  five-year  period  ending  with  1920  the 
average  acre  value  of  tobacco  was  approximately  $205,  as 
compared  with  $126  for  potatoes,  $42  for  cotton,  and  $26 
for  hay.  There  are  two  principal  aspects  of  the  question 
as  to  prospects  for  tobacco  culture  in  new  territory,  namely, 
whether  present  production  fully  equals  the  demand  and 
whether  new  regions  could  successfully  compete  with  the 
sections  already  growing  tobacco.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
from  the  earliest  days  of  the  colonists  overproduction  has 
been  the  one  greatest  menace  to  profitable  tobacco  culture. 
In  most  of  the  principal  centers  of  production  less  than  10 
per  cent  of  the  total  acreage  of  the  tobacco  farms  is  devoted 
to  this  crop  each  year  and  rising  prices  for  tobacco  are  al¬ 
most  invariably  followed  by  marked  increase  in  production. 
In  recent  years  by  far  the  most  marked  increase  in  demand 
and  in  production  has  been  in  the  flue-cured  type  of  the 
South  Atlantic  States,  but  in  these  States  there  is  a  very 
large  acreage  of  land  lying  idle  which  is  not  sufficiently 
productive  for  general  farming  but  is  available  for  meeting 
any  increase  in  demand  for  flue-cured  tobacco.  It  is  ap¬ 
parent,  therefore,  that  commercial  tobacco  culture  in  new 
territory  must  be  at  the  expense  of  the  established  producing 
districts.  As  bearing  on  the  second  phase  of  the  question, 
it  has  already  been  made  clear  that  through  a  long  process 
of  evolution  and  specialization  tobacco  production  has  become 
definitely  localized,  each  region  because  of  its  particular 
combination  of  soil  and  climate  producing  a  type  of  leaf 


468  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture ,  1922. 

peculiarly  suited  for  certain  uses  and  differing  in  important 
characteristics  from  other  types.  So  marked  are  the  effects 
of  soil  and  climate  that  it  rarely  if  ever  happens  that  two 
different  regions  will  produce  exactly  the  same  type  of  leaf, 
and  for  this  reason  the  trade  usually  looks  to  some  particu¬ 
lar  section  producing  tobacco  of  known  characteristics  for 
the  required  supply  of  each  of  the  commercial  types  of  leaf. 
Under  ordinary  circumstances,  therefore,  commercial  to¬ 
bacco  culture  is  not  likely  to  prove  successful  in  new  terri¬ 
tory. 


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